2024 Mpox Outbreak

About

The 2024 Mpox Outbreak, also known as the 2024 Monkeypox Outbreak or 2024 Monkey Pox Epidemic, refers to a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring an ongoing outbreak of the monkeypox virus in Africa a global health emergency in August 2024. The mpox epidemic is concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 15,600 cases and 537 deaths registered in the county since the beginning of the year as of August 13th, 2024. This is the second time in three years that WHO has declared a mpox outbreak as a global emergency, as it previously did so in July 2022. The outbreak quickly garnered international press coverage and inspired monkeypox memes on social media, often based around apes and netizens' reactions to a possible new global pandemic.

History

2024 Mpox Outbreak

On August 13th, 2024, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an ongoing mpox (monkeypox) outbreak in parts of Africa a public health emergency of international concern. BBC News^[3] posted a video on YouTube^[3] that day detailing more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the beginning of the year. The video (seen below, left) amassed over 72,000 views and 900 likes in two days.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, said in a press conference on August 13th that the situation was "very worrying" and warranted the "highest level of alarm under international health law." The Guardian^[4] posted a video of Adhanom's conference (seen below, right) on August 14th, amassing roughly 67,000 views and 440 likes in a day.

2022 Outbreak

In mid-2022, prior to the 2024 epidemic, another monkeypox outbreak was widely discussed and covered online after reports of the infectious disease spreading across areas of Africa, Europe and North America made headlines. A case of monkeypox was confirmed in England in May 2022 and then spread to Portugal, Spain and Canada over the course of the month. The spread of the disease inspired conversation and fear that monkeypox would become a pandemic, especially due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Symptoms and Spread of Mpox

According to The New York Times,^[1] the mpox virus is similar to "smallpox but less contagious, and the virus is spread primarily through close contact with infected animals or people, and the consumption of contaminated meat." The symptoms may include fever, headache, muscle aches and a distinctive rash that can appear in several parts of the body that progresses to pustules and eventually scabs over.^[2]

Online Reactions

Mpox became a widespread topic of concern on the internet in mid-August 2024 following WHO's report declaring a global health emergency. On X / Twitter, the term "monkey pox" reached the trending^[8] section of the platform on August 14th and 15th, 2024, accumulating over 90,0000 posts referencing it in roughly 24 hours.

On August 14th, X^[5] user @d3solate__ posted a reaction video of British actress Mia Goth shooting a gun paired with the caption "monkeypox a public health emergency." The post (seen below) amassed over 364,000 views and 11,000 likes in a day.

Also on August 14th, 2024, X^[6] user @lidolmix replied to a post about the monkeypox outbreak with the caption, "If we ever do have to go through a lockdown again please actually take it seriously this time bc have y’all seen what monkeypox could do to you." The tweet (seen below, left) amassed more than 14 million views and 200,000 likes in a day.

Discourse about the virus also spread to Reddit during the same timeframe. For example, on August 14th, Redditor^[7] Vamacharin posted a meme of a tired man smoking a cigarette with the text, "Me when WHO declares another global emergency" to the /r/meme subreddit, which amassed over 14,000 upvotes and 400 comments in a day (seen below, right).

Search Interest

External References