According to the World Health Organization, more than 6,000 cases of monkeypox have been documented from 58 different countries so far in the current outbreak.
The WHO’s highest level of alert, the epidemic will be discussed at a meeting of the U.N. agency’s committee in the week commencing July 18 or earlier, said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a virtual press conference from Geneva.
The committee ruled that the outbreak, which has seen cases rise both in the African nations where it typically spreads and abroad, was not yet a health emergency at its previous meeting on June 27.
According to Tedros, who added that there were probably many more cases remaining unreported due to a lack of testing, “I continue to be concerned by the extent and spread of the virus around the world.”
According to him, Europe accounts for almost 80% of the instances.
Since the beginning of May, monkeypox, a typically mild viral infection that results in flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, has been spreading throughout the world.
The present strain has had past outbreaks in Africa with a fatality rate of about 1%, but so far this outbreak appears to be less deadly in the non-endemic nations.
