Monkeypox is now a global emergency, World Health Organization says

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The head of the World Health Organization made the decision on Saturday. The viral disease has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Monkeypox cases were found in the UK and Europe. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been over 16 thousand cases of monkeypox in 74 countries since then. In central and western Africa, monkeypox has been less frequent.

Albert Ko said that the cases they are seeing are just the beginning. Ko is a professor at Yale University. It's not too late to stop monkeypox from causing huge damage to poorer countries without the resources to handle it, even though the window has probably closed for us to quickly stop the outbreak in Europe and the U.S.

Humans have two different types of monkeypox. One has a 10 percent fatality rate and is only found in Africa. The milder strain that appears to be driving the worldwide outbreak is rarely fatal. There are two versions of a rash that can be painful. Scientists are still trying to figure out what is driving this wave of cases, though monkeypox can be transmitted through close contact. The WHO says that most of the cases in the current outbreak have been in men. There has been an increase in the number of cases of monkeypox in parts of Africa.

It is possible that the WHO's declaration could help countries bolster their public health responses. Recommendations were made for how different countries should respond to the virus. Monkeypox is a known quantity. While there aren't specialized treatments for this virus, there are some tests and vaccines that can be used.

The declaration itself has been a topic of debate for weeks because of the different impacts the virus is having. The virus is mild in Europe and the US. No vaccines have been sent out in Africa where cases have been less serious.

In June, a panel of experts decided that monkeypox did not meet the criteria for a global public health emergency. A public health risk to other States through international spread is what the WHO defines as an extraordinary event. The panel was split as to whether or not monkeypox met those criteria today.

The WHO panel members who were in favor of the declaration felt that it met the standards. They noted that they had a moral duty to respond to the event and that LGBTI+ leaders from around the world are concerned that this disease is disproportionately affecting their communities. The community currently most affected outside Africa is the same one initially reported to be affected. The disease was stigmatized because of its association with gay men.

The conditions of the outbreak have not changed since the panel decided not to issue an emergency declaration. The disease in most of the world has been mild and may be stabilizing in some countries. They worried about the stigma of an emergency health declaration in countries where homosexuality is criminalized. There is an extremely limited global supply of monkeypox vaccine. The people who opposed the declaration were worried that declaring an emergency would cause a strain on the vaccine supply, even in people who are not at risk.

The director general of the WHO decided it was worth declaring an emergency despite the panel being split. Tedros said that there was an outbreak that had spread around the world quickly through new modes of transmission.