The World Health Organization (WHO) declared this Saturday the international emergency due to the current outbreak of monkeypox, after some 16,000 cases (five of them fatal) have already been declared in 75 countries, many of them in Europe, where the disease was not endemic.
(Also read: Europe approves monkeypox vaccine)
The decision was announced at a press conference by the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, two days after an emergency committee with experts in this disease met to analyze the possible declaration, which will force national health networks to Increase your preventive measures.
“I have decided to declare a public health emergency of international scope,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stating that the risk in the world is relatively moderate, except in Europe, where it is high.
This committee had chosen not to declare the emergency at a first meeting held in June (when the cases were 3,000), and on this occasion, according to Tedros, there was no complete consensus among the experts either. Ultimately, the decision rests with the CEO.
(Also: Monkeypox in Colombia: new cases identified)
Among the criteria used by the WHO to declare this emergency, Tedros pointed out, is the fact that “The virus is spreading rapidly in many countries where there were no cases before.”
The head of the WHO also indicated that the risk of contagion of monkeypox has risen to a “high” level in Europe, which concentrates 80% of cases, while maintaining the “moderate” level in the rest of the world. regions, including Africa, where the disease has been endemic for decades.
Tedros stressed that despite the global alert, the outbreak “is concentrated above all in men who have sex with other men and with multiple partners,” a group for which he requested assistance and information about the disease.
“It’s a call to action, but it’s not the first,” said Mike Ryan, head of emergencies at the WHO, who hoped the alert would lead to collective action against the disease.
This is the seventh time that the WHO has declared an international emergency. (a mechanism started in 2005), after having done so for influenza A in 2009, ebola in 2014 and 2018, polio in 2014, zika virus in 2017 and the coronavirus that causes covid in 2020 (alert level this last one still in force).
The virus is spreading rapidly in many countries where there were no cases before.
And it is that since the beginning of May an unusual increase in cases was detected outside the countries of central and western Africa where the virus is endemic, spreading throughout the world, with a high number of infections in Europe.
(Keep reading: Monkeypox: WHO warns Europe of critical increase in cases)
The disease has affected more than 16,836 people in 75 countries, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of July 22.
Spain is the most affected country, with 2,835 cases, followed by Germany (1,924), France (912), the Netherlands (656) and Portugal (515).
According to a New England Journal of Medicine study of 528 people in 16 countries (the largest to date), 95% of cases were spread through sexual activity.
However, the infection “can be transmitted through any close physical contact,” lead author John Thornhill warned in a statement. The study also proved that “most cases were mild and cured without treatment.”
First detected in humans in 1970, monkeypox is less dangerous and contagious than its cousin smallpox, eradicated in 1980.
The health agency works in parallel with member states and experts to advance research and development around the virus.
*With information from EFE and AFP
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