The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries an “emergency of international concern”, with more than 16,500 cases of monkeypox reported globally.

“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press conference today.

“For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern”, Tedros declared, but said the current risk of Monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region where the risk is high.

“There is also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remains low for the moment”, he added.

“That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups”, he explained.

A global emergency is WHO highest level of alert is, but the designation does not necessarily mean a disease is particularly transmissible or lethal.

Source: Palestine News Agency