Geneva: The global outbreak of monkeypox is “clearly unusual and relevant,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanam Ghebreyes said Tuesday, announcing the convening of an emergency committee on June 23 to determine whether the outbreak was a public health concern of international concern. Represents.Also read – Monkeypox: 104 more cases reported in Britain, most of them in gay men
According to Reuters, this is the highest level of warning issued by the UN agency, which currently only applies to the COVID-19 epidemic and polio. So far this year, there have been 1,600 confirmed and 1,500 suspected cases and 72 deaths from monkeypox, according to the WHO, in 39 countries, including those where the virus is most commonly spread. Also read – Canada confirms 112 cases of monkeypox; NACI recommends the use of Imvamune vaccine for immunization
“Monkeypox outbreaks are unusual and alarming. For this reason, I have decided to convene an emergency committee under international health regulations next week to assess whether this epidemic represents a public health crisis of international concern, “said Tedros, head of the WHO. Also read – Monkeypox does not necessarily show common symptoms, cases are hard to find: US health experts
Tedros said it was time to consider increasing the response because the virus behaves abnormally, more countries are affected, and international coordination is needed. “We do not want to wait until the situation is out of control,” said Ibrahima Soss Foley, the WHO’s emergency director for Africa.
The WHO chief further stated that the WHO is working with partners on a method to help change the name and types of monkeypox as well as distribute the available vaccines more evenly.
Some countries have begun using the Smallpox vaccine to vaccinate health workers and close contacts of monkeypox patients, a related and more serious virus that was eradicated in the 1980’s.
Monkeypox is endemic to parts of Africa but more cases have been reported in both those countries and the rest of the world. The virus causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions and is spread through close contact. Meanwhile, outbreaks of viral diseases have been reported in more than 30 countries where monkeypox is not endemic, with close to 1,500 confirmed cases, most of them in Europe.
Monkeypox, which is spread by close contact and was first seen in monkeys, is found mostly in West and Central Africa and only occasionally spread elsewhere.
It is related to smallpox, but it is generally mild, especially the strain of the West African virus identified in the US case, which has a mortality rate of about 1%. Most people recover completely in two to four weeks.
Experts believe that the current outbreak of monkeypox is spread through close-to-skin-to-skin contact with a person with active spots. Once the infection has been identified, its spread should be facilitated.
