The emergency was over, but the work was not.
En un jueves de mayo, la Organización Mundial de la Salud cerró formalmente el capítulo de emergencia del mpox, reconociendo que una caída del 90% en los casos recientes justificaba levantar la alarma global que había sonado casi un año atrás. Más de 87.000 personas infectadas y 140 muertes en 111 países definen la magnitud de lo que el mundo atravesó desde julio de 2022. Sin embargo, el director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus fue cuidadoso en distinguir entre el fin de la emergencia y el fin de la amenaza: el virus sigue circulando, y la historia de las epidemias enseña que la calma no es sinónimo de victoria.
- La OMS declaró el fin de la emergencia sanitaria internacional por mpox apenas seis días después de haber hecho lo mismo con el COVID-19, generando una sensación de alivio cauteloso en la salud global.
- A pesar del descenso dramático de casos, el virus continúa transmitiéndose en todas las regiones, con África como zona de preocupación persistente donde los mecanismos de contagio siguen siendo poco comprendidos.
- Las personas con infección por VIH no tratada enfrentan un riesgo desproporcionado, y el estigma asociado al brote —vinculado principalmente a hombres que tienen sexo con hombres— ha obstaculizado el acceso a la atención desde el inicio.
- La OMS llama a los países a mantener la vigilancia, integrar la prevención del mpox en sus programas de salud existentes y actuar con rapidez ante cualquier rebrote, marcando una transición de la crisis a la alerta sostenida.
Un jueves de mayo, el director general de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, anunció ante la prensa el fin de la emergencia sanitaria internacional por mpox, siguiendo la recomendación del Comité de Emergencias del organismo. La decisión llegó respaldada por los números: en los últimos tres meses, los casos habían caído casi un 90% respecto al trimestre anterior, un descenso lo suficientemente pronunciado como para justificar el cambio de estatus. Desde julio de 2022, el virus había infectado a más de 87.000 personas en 111 países y causado 140 muertes.
Sin embargo, Tedros fue explícito en su advertencia: el fin de la emergencia no significaba el fin del peligro. El mpox seguía circulando, seguía matando, y la posibilidad de nuevas oleadas era real. El panorama geográfico era desigual: las Américas concentraban casi 59.000 casos, Europa reportaba 25.000, y África —donde el virus había aparecido periódicamente durante cuatro décadas— registraba apenas 1.500 en los conteos oficiales, una cifra que ocultaba profundas incertidumbres sobre sus patrones de transmisión en el continente.
Nicola Low, vicepresidenta del comité de emergencias, calificó el descenso de casos como 'impresionante' y reconoció el papel de las comunidades afectadas en contener el brote. Pero también señaló vacíos importantes: se desconoce con precisión cómo se propaga el virus en ciertos países, cuán efectivas son realmente las vacunas, y qué medidas preventivas funcionan en las naciones africanas donde los casos continúan ocurriendo. Las personas con VIH no tratado representaban un grupo de riesgo particular, y fuera de África, cerca de la mitad de los casos se habían dado entre personas con VIH.
El estigma había complicado la respuesta desde el principio. La asociación del brote con hombres que tienen sexo con hombres moldeó tanto la epidemiología como la percepción pública, aunque Tedros señaló que la temida violencia contra las comunidades más afectadas había sido, en gran medida, evitada. La OMS cerró la emergencia con un mensaje de doble filo: el momento de crisis había pasado, pero la vigilancia debía continuar, integrando la prevención del mpox en los programas de salud existentes para evitar que futuros brotes volvieran a escalar.
On a Thursday in May, the World Health Organization's director-general stood before reporters and announced what many had been waiting to hear: the international health emergency for mpox was over. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the declaration after receiving a recommendation from the organization's Emergency Committee, marking a dramatic shift in the global response to a virus that had dominated headlines for nearly a year.
The numbers told the story of a crisis that had peaked and receded. Since July 2022, when the alarm first sounded, mpox had spread across 111 countries, infecting more than 87,000 people and killing 140. But something had shifted in recent months. The latest three-month period showed almost 90 percent fewer cases than the three months before it—a decline so steep that it prompted the WHO to declare the emergency phase over. The announcement came just six days after the organization had ended its emergency declaration for COVID-19, suggesting a moment of cautious relief in global health.
Yet Tedros was careful not to declare victory. Standing at the podium, he issued a warning that would define the statement: the threat of new waves remained real for both mpox and COVID-19. The viruses were still circulating. They were still killing people. The emergency status had changed, but the disease had not disappeared.
The geographic picture was uneven. The Americas had borne the heaviest burden, with nearly 59,000 cases. Europe reported 25,000. Africa, where mpox had surfaced periodically over the previous four decades, had recorded only 1,500 cases in the official count—a figure that masked deeper uncertainties about transmission patterns on the continent. The United States led individual countries with more than 30,000 cases, followed by Brazil, Spain, France, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. The disease had become a truly global phenomenon, though its footprint was far from uniform.
Nicola Low, the vice chair of the emergency committee, described the case decline as "impressive," crediting the work of public health officials, international cooperation, and the intense efforts of affected communities themselves. But she and other WHO officials acknowledged that the work was far from finished. The virus continued to spread in communities across every region, and in Africa, the mechanisms of transmission remained poorly understood. Travel-related cases kept appearing, a reminder that the threat persisted. People living with untreated HIV infection faced particular risk, and in regions outside Africa, roughly half of all cases had occurred among people with HIV.
The stigma surrounding the disease had complicated the response from the beginning. Mpox had become associated primarily with men who have sex with men, a fact that shaped both the epidemiology and the public perception of the outbreak. Tedros acknowledged that while this stigma continued to obstruct access to care, the feared violent backlash against the most affected communities had largely not materialized. Still, the reputational weight of the disease hung over the response.
Low raised another concern: significant gaps remained in understanding how the virus spread in certain countries, how effective vaccines truly were, and what preventive measures might work in African nations where mpox cases continued to occur regularly. She called for a long-term strategy aimed at ending human-to-human transmission and reducing the spillover of the virus from animals to people. The disease itself was recognizable by its characteristic skin eruptions, which could appear on the genitals or in the mouth, often accompanied by fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes.
The WHO's message was layered: the emergency was over, but the work was not. Countries needed to maintain their efforts, assess their own risks, quantify their response needs, and act quickly when necessary. The integration of mpox prevention into existing health programs would be crucial for catching future outbreaks before they spiraled. The declaration marked a transition from crisis mode to sustained vigilance—a different kind of alert, but an alert nonetheless.
Notable Quotes
Although the alerts for mpox and COVID-19 have ended, the threat of new waves remains for both. The two viruses continue to circulate and continue to kill.— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General
The decline in the number of infected people has been impressive as a result of public health actions, interventions, international cooperation, and the intense work of many affected communities.— Nicola Low, Vice Chair of the Emergency Committee
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When the WHO says the emergency is over, what does that actually mean on the ground? Does the virus stop spreading?
No, it doesn't. The emergency status is a formal designation—it signals that the crisis phase has passed, that cases are declining sharply, that the immediate threat to global stability has receded. But the virus is still there, still infecting people, still killing. It's a change in how the world responds, not a change in the virus itself.
So why declare it over at all, if the work isn't finished?
Because the metrics matter. A 90 percent drop in cases in three months is real. It means the public health interventions worked—the vaccines, the awareness campaigns, the community efforts. Declaring the emergency over acknowledges that success while also signaling that this is now a managed problem, not a runaway crisis.
The source mentions significant gaps in understanding transmission in Africa. That seems like a major blind spot.
It is. Africa has the longest history with mpox, but the surveillance systems there are weaker, the data is patchier. And the virus behaves differently there—it's not primarily spreading through the networks it spread through in the West. That uncertainty is exactly why the WHO is cautious about declaring total victory.
What about the stigma issue? The disease became associated with gay men.
That association shaped everything—who got tested, who sought treatment, how communities responded. Tedros noted that the feared violent backlash didn't materialize, which is significant. But the stigma itself still blocks people from accessing care. It's a quieter harm than violence, but it's real.
Half the cases outside Africa were in people with HIV. That's striking.
It is. It means the virus found a vulnerable population and spread through it. People with untreated HIV have weakened immune systems, so they're at higher risk of severe disease and complications. It also means the response has to be integrated—you can't address mpox without addressing HIV care and access.
What happens now?
Sustained surveillance, integration of mpox prevention into existing health programs, and a long-term strategy to prevent future outbreaks. The emergency phase is over, but the attention can't be. That's the balance the WHO is trying to strike.