Influenza, Ebola, Polio, etc… COVID-19 persisted for over 2 years and 6 months
It is understood that the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) seven times so far, including the case of monkey smallpox announced on the 23rd (local time).
The PHEIC is the highest public health alert that the WHO can issue.
The first declaration was made in 2009 for H1N1 influenza A (H1N1).
The WHO declared a state of emergency as the disease, which started in Mexico and the United States, spread to Europe and Asia.
In the year before the declaration ended in August 2010, the number of people who died of H1N1 influenza A reached 18,000.
The WHO declared the second PHEIC in May 2014 when the polio virus spread mainly in Pakistan, Cameroon and Syria.
The decision was made after the supply of polio vaccine was disrupted and infection rates rose rapidly.
In August of the same year, the third PHEIC declaration was issued for the Ebola virus that originated in West Africa.
At that time, more than 11,300 people died from the Ebola virus.
Then, in 2019, when the Ebola virus reappeared in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the WHO declared another state of emergency.
At least 2,200 people died in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone from the Ebola virus.
The WHO declared PHEIC in 2016 when the Zika virus, known to cause microcephaly in newborns, spread in Brazil and other countries.
The sixth and most recent declaration of state of emergency was in January 2020 for COVID-19.
This declaration is still in force two years and six months later.
The WHO judged that PHEIC is still effective considering the fact that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continues to increase amid the emergence of mutated viruses, the fact that the virus is constantly evolving, and that medical institutions are under pressure in the response process.
/yunhap news