The World Health Organization said Wednesday that hundreds of monkeypox cases have surfaced beyond the African countries where the disease is usually found.
The sudden appearance of monkeypox in many countries at the same time suggests there may have been undetected transmission for some time, according to the World Health Organization chief.
More than 500 confirmed cases of the disease have been verified in 30 countries outside of the west and central African nations where it is endemic, the WHO said.
The UN health agency's top monkeypox expert,Rosamund Lewis, said that the appearance of so many cases across much of Europe and other countries where it has not been seen before is a cause for concern, and it does suggest undetected transmission for a while.
She said that they don't know if it is weeks, months or a couple for years.
Millions of people were killed by Monkeypox before it was wiped out in 1980.
The symptoms of monkeypox are less severe, with a high fever and a rash that clears up after a few weeks.
Most cases of monkeypox have been reported among men who have sex with men.
Tedros said anyone can be exposed to monkeypox if they have close physical contact with someone who is.
He urged everyone to help fight stigma, which could make it harder to stop transmission.
He said that the WHO wasurging affected countries to widen their surveillance.
Lewis insisted that we all work together to prevent the spread of the disease through contact tracing and isolation of people with the disease.
The vaccine for smallpox has been found to be 85 percent effective in preventing monkeypox, but they are in short supply.
The World Health Organization doesn't propose mass vaccinations, but rather targeted use to protect health workers and people most at risk of infections.
There have been around 70 deaths from the monkeypox virus reported across five African countries so far this year, with thousands falling ill from the disease each year.
The fatality rate for monkeypox is usually quite low, and no deaths have been reported so far outside of endemic countries.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO lead on emerging diseases, warned that if the virus got into more vulnerable populations, there could be deaths.
Agence France-Presse
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