Health Ministry to set up mpox emergency committee

Brazil’s Minister of Health Nísia Trindade said the government will set up an Emergency Operation Committee to tackle the spread of mpox, which has been worrying international authorities.

The statement came Wednesday (Aug. 14), after the World Health Organization declared the mpox situation in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international importance due to the risk of global spread and a potential new pandemic. This is the organization’s highest level of alert. Nonetheless, the minister noted, the moment is one of alert, but not alarm.

“We had been keeping our eyes open. We’ve been having meetings with experts since two weeks ago, when the cases started, on this possibility [the disease spreading]. We’re going to analyze issues such as vaccines. There is no cause for alarm, but for alert,” she told journalists at the Planalto presidential palace, after a ceremony announcing investment in the health industry.

Among the measures, she named the acquisition of diagnostic tests, an alert for travelers, and an updated contingency plan. As far as vaccines are concerned, no plans have been made for mass immunization thus far.

Official data show that 709 cases of mpox were reported in Brazil in 2024, alongside 16 deaths, the most recent being in April last year. Globally, cases this year have exceeded the total recorded in 2023, adding up to over 14 thousand, plus 524 deaths.

The disease

Mpox is a zoonotic viral disease—an infectious disease transmitted between species from animals to humans. Contagion can occur through contact with infected wild animals, people infected with the virus, and contaminated materials.

Symptoms generally include rashes or skin lesions, swollen lymph nodes, fever, body aches, headache, chills, and weakness.