Mpox spreads across more than 82 countries, report highlights lessons not learned from Covid

A new study reports that lessons drawn from the Covid-19 pandemic have not yet been incorporated into global health programs, leaving the world vulnerable to the spread of emerging viruses. This is reported by The National, citing the study underlying the report and statements from the World Health Organization; this is currently the only available source for this account.

The case cited as an example by the study is that of Mpox, the disease that spread rapidly to more than 82 countries fifty years after it was first identified in humans in West Africa. In the first nine months of 2026, over 14,000 confirmed cases and 50 deaths were recorded. As of October 30, more than 133,000 hospitalizations linked to the disease had been counted, according to data collected by health ministries cited in the study.

The World Health Organization has so far declared two separate public health emergencies of international concern for Mpox: the first in 2019, the second in 2026.

Among the statements collected by the study is that of the World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Emergencies in the Eastern Mediterranean, Annette Heinzelmann:

“Recent developments in the Middle East show how quickly health emergencies evolve” (transl. from English)

The available material does not specify the methodology of the study cited by the report — the sample size analyzed, the criteria for selecting the health programs examined, any conflicts of interest declared by the authors — nor does it allow one to determine whether the shortcomings identified are described as a direct cause of the spread of Mpox or as a related factor among others. The report focuses on the ability of health systems to apply lessons from a past crisis to subsequent ones, rather than on the clinical management of the disease itself. The figures reported — more than 14,000 cases, 50 deaths and more than 133,000 hospitalizations in under ten months — remain the most solid quantitative element of the account, attributed to the health ministries cited in the study.