Wellcome responds to disease outbreak news
On Wednesday 27 February the WHO confirmed that the upsurge of mpox cases remains an international global health emergency, and that it is supporting the investigation into the cause of an unknown disease in the DRC
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Titus Divala, Head of Epidemics & Epidemiology at Wellcome, said:
"The start to 2025 brings no respite from global disease outbreaks. Yesterday the WHO confirmed mpox remains a 'public health emergency of international concern', Uganda faces a worrying Sudan ebolavirus outbreak, and hospitals in the UK and US are seeing record norovirus cases. And now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces an outbreak of an unknown disease while managing multiple ongoing crises.
"The DRC’s impressive response efforts aiming to identify the cause of this outbreak involved enhanced surveillance systems and rapid response teams. This is vital for understanding the outbreak’s cause and spread and enabling the implementation of effective, evidence-based control measures. This outbreak underscores the need to prepare for disease emergencies before they arise and build in-country response capacity by investing in local expertise and research capabilities through sustainable infrastructure and financing.”
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