The spread of monkeypox does not yet constitute a public health emergency according to the World Health Organization.
A clinical sample associated with a 2003 prairie dog outbreak has been obtained. The photo was taken by the Smith Collection/Gado.
An emergency meeting was convened by the WHO to determine if the spread of monkeypox qualifies as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which would prompt countries to take action to limit the virus' spread.
There is a risk of further, sustained transmission into the wider population that should not be overlooked according to the committee.
According to the WHO, the committee's decision was not unanimous, but its members reached a consensus on their decision.
An increase in the rate of case growth in the next 21 days is one of the reasons the panel would return.
Tedros said that his colleagues and he in the WHO secretariat are following an evolving health threat.
The WHO's highest level of alert is called a PHEIC. It is intended to alert countries to take immediate steps to stop an outbreak and to give guidance on what they should be doing to stop it. It is a signal for nations to use their own emergency plans. According to Forbes, a declaration can provideconvenient political cover for national politicians to implement potentially unpopular policies. Many nations took weeks to respond after the WHO sounded the alarm on Covid-19, though they are not obliged to act. In an interview with Forbes, an associate professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science said a declaration on monkeypox could be seen as a test for the WHO's authority post.
Monkeypox can only be transmitted through close contact with an infectious animal or person, and can only be transmitted through objects that have been contaminated by a person with an infectious disease. Less commonly, the virus spreads through respiratory droplets produced when people breathe, cough, talk or sneeze and particulars of the recent outbreak has experts looking into the possibility the virus could be transmitted sexually after it was detected in the semen of some patients. For decades, the disease has spread in parts of Africa where animals are believed to harbor the virus, but cases elsewhere have been rare and mostly related to travel in the region. Treatments and vaccines against monkeypox are only available in limited quantities and data on their use is not available.
The near-simultaneous emergence in several areas where it is not normally known to spread alarmed experts earlier this year and suggests the virus may have been quietly circulating for a while. Tedros said that person-to-person transmission is ongoing. There are a lot of unknowns about how the virus has spread around the world and among whom it has spread. Tedros said that the proportion of women affected by the disease is higher in Nigeria than in other countries. In new countries such as Europe and North America, the majority of cases have been among men who identify as gay, bisexual or having sex with men. This has prompted targeted health measures aimed at at-risk communities, as well as homophobic backlash, though experts warn stigma will make it harder to contain the disease and does not reflect the fact that the virus will affect anyone.
3,400. Tedros said at the start of the emergency committee meeting that 48 countries have reported monkeypox cases since the WHO was notified about three cases in the U.K. One person has died in Nigeria. More than 70 deaths have been reported in Central Africa this year. There have been reports in the Central African Republic as well as in the Democratic Republic of theCongo.
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