--- title: Mpox Is No Longer a Global Health Emergency, WHO Says description: The World Health Organization lowered the global alert level on mpox almost a year after declaring the spread an extraordinary event. canonical: https://time.com/6279013/mpox-global-health-emergency-end-who/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-05-11T14:59:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:13.380Z article:section: Health og:title: Mpox Is No Longer a Global Health Emergency, WHO Says og:description: WHO lowered the global alert level on mpox almost a year after declaring the spread an extraordinary event og:url: https://time.com/6279013/mpox-global-health-emergency-end-who/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bbafb13dee5ebec/698a3ccf86f68e34d76f26b5/mpox-virus.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Mpox virus og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mpox Is No Longer a Global Health Emergency, WHO Says twitter:description: WHO lowered the global alert level on mpox almost a year after declaring the spread an extraordinary event twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bbafb13dee5ebec/698a3ccf86f68e34d76f26b5/mpox-virus.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mpox Is No Longer a Global Health Emergency, WHO Says > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: World Health Organization Says COVID-19 Is No Longer a Global Emergency [Watch (HLS stream): World Health Organization Says COVID-19 Is No Longer a Global Emergency](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9ON8QyDp.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2023-05-05. The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies worldwide and killed at least 7 million people worldwide._ by [Thomas Mulier/Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Thomas Mulier/Bloomberg Contributor May 11, 2023 2:59 PM UTC  Colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox particles (pink) found within an infected cell (green), cultured in the laboratory. Colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox particles (pink) found within an infected cell (green), cultured in the laboratory. NIH-NIAID/IMAGE POINT FR/BSIP/Universal Images Group/Getty Images by [Thomas Mulier/Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Thomas Mulier/Bloomberg Contributor May 11, 2023 2:59 PM UTC Mpox, a sometimes deadly virus that causes unsightly, painful rashes, is no longer a global health emergency, but more needs to be done to eradicate the disease, the World Health Organization said. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lowered the global alert level on mpox, previously known as monkeypox, almost a year after first declaring the spread of the virus an extraordinary event. A PHEIC—pronounced “fake”—applies to an extraordinary event that carries a public-health risk via the international spread of a disease, and one that potentially requires a coordinated response. It can be used to encourage nations to cooperate on countermeasures. Tedros declared mpox a PHEIC in July even though an expert panel had been divided on the matter. The leader of the WHO has been criticized for raising the alarm on Covid too slowly. He declared the end of the PHEIC on Covid last week. A cousin of the smallpox virus, mpox has mostly been confined to developing countries for years, but spread across Europe and the U.S. last year. There have been more than 87,000 cases and 140 deaths from 111 countries reported to WHO. The smallpox vaccine Imvanex has shown effectiveness against monkeypox. --- ### More from TIME --- In the U.S., health officials are currently investigating a cluster of new cases in Chicago, more than half of which are in people who were previously vaccinated against the virus. Still, there were almost 90% fewer cases reported globally in the last three months, compared with the previous three months, Tedros said Thursday. The pathogen typically causes flu-like symptoms, followed by a rash that often starts on the face and spreads down the belly. The illness often lasts for two weeks to a month, and can be deadly. **Read More**: [_What It Really Feels Like to Have Mpox_](https://time.com/6201191/what-monkeypox-feels-like/) A large proportion of cases have been among men who’ve had sex with men, and many have occurred within sexual networks, though anyone can contract the disease. For those who also have untreated HIV infection, there is particular risk. The smallpox vaccine Imvanex has shown effectiveness against monkeypox. “While stigma has been a driving concern in managing this epidemic and continues to hamper access to care for mpox, the feared backlash against the most affected communities has largely not materialized,” Tedros said. “For that, we are thankful.” _—With assistance from Janice Kew and Madison Muller._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6279013/mpox-global-health-emergency-end-who/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6279013/mpox-global-health-emergency-end-who/"},"headline":"Mpox Is No Longer a Global Health Emergency, WHO Says","datePublished":"2023-05-11T14:59:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:51:13.380Z","description":"The World Health Organization lowered the global alert level on mpox almost a year after declaring the spread an extraordinary event.","url":"https://time.com/6279013/mpox-global-health-emergency-end-who/","keywords":["Public Health","wire","healthscienceclimate","bloomberg wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bbafb13dee5ebec/698a3ccf86f68e34d76f26b5/mpox-virus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Thomas Mulier/Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bbafb13dee5ebec/698a3ccf86f68e34d76f26b5/mpox-virus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mpox virus","caption":"Mpox virus","creditText":"NIH-NIAID/IMAGE POINT FR/BSIP/Universal Images Group/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6279013/mpox-global-health-emergency-end-who/","name":"Mpox Is No Longer a Global Health Emergency, WHO Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"World Health Organization Says COVID-19 Is No Longer a Global Emergency","description":"The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies worldwide and killed at least 7 million people worldwide.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9ON8QyDp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-05-05T14:57:09.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9ON8QyDp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6279013/mpox-global-health-emergency-end-who/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6279013/mpox-global-health-emergency-end-who/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```