The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday reported over 1,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox from 29 countries that are not endemic for the disease.
There is already community transmission and infected women in some countries, WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom stressed during a press conference, while ruling out deaths in those nations.
WHO asked States to make every effort to identify those people infected and their contacts in order to control the outbreak and prevent further spread.
WHO expressed concern the monkeypox spreads to vulnerable groups including children or pregnant women, and also recalled that during 2022, as many as 1,400 suspected monkeypox cases and 66 deaths were reported in Africa.
Dr. Adhanom regretted the international community paid attention to the virus as it harmed high-income states, and health care and access to tools are essential to protect oneself.
WHO´s director-general stated the Organization is not in favor of conducting a mass vaccination, although it is in favor of providing immunization access to those who really require it.
Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease: transmissible among animals and humans. It symptoms include fever, headache and muscle pain. It also causes swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, as well as rashes on the hands and face, similar to those caused by traditional smallpox, although less severe.
There is no a specific vaccine to fight the disease, but data have shown the medicines to eradicate smallpox are up to 85% effective against the virus. (https://www.plenglish.com/news/2022/06/08/over-1000-monkeypox-cases-reported-to-who-briefing/)
