WHO Acknowledges ‘Emergency Nature’ of Monkeypox Outbreak

ZURICH (Sputnik) - The current monkeypox outbreak needs urgent response efforts but does not constitute an emergency of international scale, World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee has concluded.

"While a few Members expressed differing views, the committee resolved by consensus to advise the WHO Director-General that at this stage the outbreak should be determined to not constitute a PHEIC [Public Health Emergency of International Concern]," the WHO said in a Saturday statement.

The meeting of the IHR emergency committee was held on June 23. Some members warned that there is a risk of further spread of the monkeypox virus to the wider population.

"...the Committee unanimously acknowledged the emergency nature of the event and that controlling the further spread of outbreak requires intense response efforts. The Committee advised that the event should be closely monitored and reviewed after a few weeks, once more information about the current unknowns becomes available," the WHO said on Saturday.

The IHR emergency committee also pointed out several "unusual" aspects of the current multi-country outbreak of monkeypox. These aspects include the spread of the virus in non-endemic countries, "and the fact that the vast majority of cases is observed among men who have sex with men, of young age, not previously immunized against smallpox (knowing that vaccination against smallpox is effective in protecting against monkeypox as well)."

Most people usually recover from monkeypox within a few weeks without treatment. The symptoms are initially flu-like, such as fever, chills, and swollen lymph nodes, which are then followed by a widespread rash.

The monkeypox virus is not easily transmitted and spreads through close physical contact, including sexual contact, with an infected individual. Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease (spread between animals and people). It originates in animals like rodents and primates and occurs in remote parts of Central and West Africa.

According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , as part of the current outbreak, more than 3,200 monkeypox cases have been reported from 48 different countries. There has also been one death from the virus.