The World Health Organization anticipates more instances of monkeypox as it expands surveillance in places where the disease is uncommon.
As of Saturday, the U.N. agency reported 92 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases of monkeypox from 12 member countries that are not endemic for the virus, adding that it will provide additional guidance and recommendations for countries on how to mitigate the spread of monkeypox in the coming days.
‘At this time, available information suggests that human-to-human transmission is occurring among those in close physical contact with symptomatic cases,’ the organisation noted.
Monkeypox is an infectious disease that is endemic in portions of western and central Africa. Because it spreads through close contact, it is relatively easy to contain by measures like as self-isolation and sanitation. See also EXPLAINER:
‘What appears to be happening now is that it has entered the community as a sexual form, as a genital form, and is being distributed as are sexually transmitted infections, which has amplified its transmission over the world,’ WHO official and infectious disease specialist David Heymann told Reuters.
Heymann stated that an international committee of experts convened via video conference to discuss what needs to be examined and conveyed to the public about the outbreak, such as whether there is any asymptomatic spread, who is most at risk, and the various routes of transmission.
He stated that the conference was called ‘because to the severity of the situation.’ The committee is not the panel that would recommend declaring a public health emergency of international concern, the highest level of notice issued by WHO in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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