The World Health Organization said on Saturday that the rapid spread of monkeypox in dozens of countries does not represent a global health emergency at this time.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described monkeypox as an evolving health threat, and urged governments around the world to monitor, contact tracing, testing and ensuring that people at high risk Have access to vaccines and antiviral treatments.
WHO convened its emergency committee to determine what level of threat it currently poses to the international community. According to WHO data, at least 3,000 cases of monkeypox have been identified in more than 50 countries since the beginning of May.
The committee weighed whether to activate the WHO’s highest alert level in response to the outbreak, which has been called a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Covid-19 and polio are the only other virus outbreaks considered international public health emergencies by the WHO.
Although the WHO did not activate its highest alert level, Tedros said the outbreak is of serious concern because it is spreading rapidly in countries where the virus is not commonly found. Historically, monkeypox has spread at low levels in remote parts of West and Central Africa. In the current outbreak, 84% of cases reported worldwide are in Europe, which is very unusual.
“The current outbreak is spreading particularly rapidly to new countries and territories, and there is a risk of continued transmission in vulnerable populations, including immunocompromised, pregnant women and children,” Tedros said in a press release on Saturday. ,
The WHO director said research has been neglected on the spread of monkeypox in Africa, which has put the health of people there and around the world at risk.
Monkeypox is mainly spread through close physical contact with someone who has infected or contaminated material such as shared clothing or bedsheets. If an infected person has sores in the throat or mouth, the virus can spread through respiratory droplets. However, this requires constant face-to-face contact, and monkeypox is not believed to be spread through aerosol particles.
Respiratory droplets fall rapidly to the ground, while aerosol particles remain in the air for a long time. COVID-19 spreads through aerosol particles, which is one of the reasons it is so contagious.
Monkeypox is in the same virus family as smallpox, but it has milder symptoms. Most people recover in two to four weeks without specific medical treatment.
According to the WHO, the monkeypox outbreak is affecting mainly gay and bisexual men who said they have had sex with new or multiple partners. Of the 468 monkeypox patients who have disclosed demographic information, 99% are male. According to WHO, most of them are identified as men having sex with men and their average age is 37 years.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US has reported 142 confirmed or suspected monoxpox cases in 23 states and Washington DC. Health officials in the US tried to raise awareness ahead of Pride Month about how the virus spreads and what symptoms look like so that people can protect themselves from infection. Although men who have sex with men are at higher risk right now, anyone can catch monkeypox through close physical contact, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Monkeypox often begins with flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, body aches, chills, tiredness and swollen lymph nodes. Then a rash resembling a pimple or blister appears on the body. People are most contagious when they have a rash.
According to the CDC, some patients in the current outbreak have only developed a rash on the genitals or anus before showing any flu-like symptoms, however, it is spreading through sexual contact in those cases. In other cases, patients developed a rash without any flu-like symptoms.
The US has stockpiled two different vaccines and an antiviral treatment to fight smallpox and monkeypox. Jynneos is a two-dose vaccine approved for people 18 years of age and older. The CDC generally recommends Genios over another option, ACAM 2000, an older generation smallpox vaccine. Jynneos is considered safer than ACAM2000, which can have serious side effects.
WHO has stated that mass vaccination is not recommended at this time to prevent monkeypox. The US is offering the vaccine to people who are at high risk of exposure to the virus.
The International Health Agency has applied the emergency designation only six times since the rules were put into effect in the mid-2000s. The last time the WHO declared a global health emergency before Covid, the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo killed more than 2,000 people in 2019. The agency also declared a global emergency for the 2016 Zika virus, 2009 H1N1 swine flu and the 2014 polio and Ebola outbreaks.