CARPHA urges member states to be more vigilant against mpox virus

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has called on member states to be vigilant against the mpox virus outbreak after the World Health Organization (WHO) last week declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

In a statement, CARPHA, which said it has established a testing capacity for the virus with a turnaround time of 72 hours, said the current outbreak of mpox is caused by clade I, which is more transmissible and causes more severe illness. It said Clade II was responsible for an outbreak that WHO declared to be a global health emergency from July 2022 to May 2023.

“Presently, no cases of clade 1b mpox have been reported in the Caribbean and its neighbouring countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Latin America. There is also a limited number of travellers and no direct commercial flights from the DRC or its neighbouring countries to the Caribbean.”