World The health organization will reconvene its monkeypox experts to decide whether the worsening outbreak now constitutes a global public health emergency, its chief said on Wednesday.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the UN health agency, said he would hold a second meeting of the emergency committee on monkeys, which has confirmed more than 6,000 cases in 58 countries.
An increase in monkeypox infections has been reported outside West and Central African countries since early May, where the disease has long been endemic.
“I am concerned by the scale and spread of the virus,” Tedros told a news conference from WHO’s headquarters in Geneva.
“Testing remains a challenge and it is highly likely that a large number of cases are not being taken up.
“Europe is the current epicenter of the outbreak, recording more than 80 percent of monkeypox cases globally.”
According to the WHO, most monkeypox infections so far have been observed in men who have sex with men, at younger ages and mainly in urban areas.
On 23 June, the WHO convened an emergency committee of experts to decide whether monkeypox constitutes a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) – the highest alarm ever heard by the WHO.
But the majority found that the situation has not yet crossed that threshold.
“My teams are following the data. I plan to convene the emergency committee again so that they can be updated on the current epidemiology and development of the monkeypox outbreak and implementation of counter measures,” Tedros said.
“I will bring them in the week of July 18 or earlier if needed.”
– Fever and rash –
WHO’s 16-member emergency committee on monkeypox is chaired by Jean-Marie Ocho-Belle of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, former director of WHO’s Vaccines and Immunization Department.
There have been six PHEIC announcements since 2009, the last in 2020 for COVID-19 – although the sluggish global response to the alarm bells is still at WHO’s headquarters.
A PHEIC was declared after the 3rd Emergency Committee meeting on 30 January of that year. But after March 11, when Tedros described the rapidly deteriorating situation as a pandemic, many countries woke up to the danger.
Common early symptoms of monkeypox include high fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a blistering chickenpox-like rash.
Cases in the initial outbreak had no epidemiological relationship to areas that have historically reported monkeypox, suggesting that there may have been undetected transmission for some time.
WHO’s current plan to contain the spread focuses on raising awareness among affected population groups and encouraging safe behavior and protective measures.
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