Outbreak history on May 5

Historical outbreak-response milestones recorded on this calendar date, drawn from WHO Disease Outbreak News, CDC archives, and primary epidemiological literature.

• 2023

  COVID-19

  WHO ends COVID-19 PHEIC

  After three years and three months, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus formally ended the Public Health Emergency of International Concern for COVID-19, acting on Emergency Committee recommendation. By the end date the cumulative case count exceeded 765 million globally, with confirmed deaths above 6.9 million.

  Glossary: PHEIC
• 2014

  WHO declares the international spread of poliovirus a PHEIC

  WHO declared the international spread of wild poliovirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern — the second-ever PHEIC under the IHR (2005) framework, following exportations from Pakistan, Syria, and Cameroon during the low-transmission season. It remains the longest-running PHEIC: the Emergency Committee has extended it continuously ever since.

  Glossary: PHEIC

Browse the full outbreak history calendar for milestones across all dates.