The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday an emergency committee will be convened to discuss whether the current mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo represents a public health emergency of international concern.

WHO said that 50 more mpox cases had been confirmed and more were suspected in four countries - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda - where cases have previously not been reported.

"In light of the spread of mpox outside DRC and the potential for further international spread within and outside Africa, I have decided to convene an emergency committee under the International Health Regulations to advise me on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press conference.

The health agency said the emergency committee will be pulled together "as soon as possible" but did not provide a definite date for the meeting or other details.

The current mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has already seen around 27,000 cases, and claimed more than 1,100 lives, most of them children, since the beginning of 2023.

It began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as Clade I. But the new variant, known as Clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, as seems to be the case among children.

A different, less severe form of the virus - clade IIb - spread globally in 2022, largely through sexual contact among men who have sex with men. This prompted the WHO to declare a public health emergency. Although that has ended, WHO has said the disease remains a health threat.

  - Reuters