The World Health Organization on Thursday urged countries to increase monitoring of monkeypox after discovering cases outside countries where the virus that causes the disease usually spreads.
An official in the organization revealed that about 200 confirmed cases of monkeypox and more than 100 suspected cases have so far been monitored. Monkeypox, a mild viral infection, is endemic in African countries, namely Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
The recent emergence of the disease in countries where it does not usually spread, has raised concerns. It is believed that the death rate from the globally spread strain is about one percent, despite the availability of effective vaccines and treatments.
In an online briefing, Maria Van Kerkhove, chief epidemiologist at the World Health Organization, said that so far, infections have been recorded in more than 20 countries where the disease is not endemic, adding that the organization expects the numbers to increase.
“We expect to find more infections,” she added. We are asking countries to increase surveillance… This is a containable situation. It will be difficult, but it can be contained in non-endemic countries.”
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