WHO urges immediate action in Europe in response to the monkeypox outbreak
Key Takeaways:
- The World Health Organization demanded "urgent" action to curb the spread of monkeypox in Europe on Friday, noting that the region has seen a threefold increase in cases over the preceding two weeks.
- Outside of West and Central African countries, where the virus has been endemic since early May, monkeypox cases have considerably increased.
- On Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency declared that a smallpox vaccine's capacity to shield against monkeypox was being examined.
To stop the spread of monkeypox in Europe, the World Health Organization called for "immediate" action on Friday, adding that the number of cases had tripled in the area over the previous two weeks.
WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri Kluge stated, "Today, I am stepping up my demand for government and civil society to scale up measures... to prevent monkeypox from establishing itself throughout a growing geographical area.
"If we are to drive progress in the race to stop the continued spread of this disease, urgent and coordinated action is essential."
Monkeypox cases have increased significantly outside West and Central African nations, where the virus has been endemic since early May.
4,500 infections, or 90% of all laboratory-confirmed cases reported globally, were found in Europe, according to Kluge.
At this point, illnesses have been documented in 31 nations and regions.
According to Kluge, the rising outbreak is still centered in Europe, and the risk is still very high.
Although it will soon evaluate its stance, the WHO does not now consider the epidemic to be a public health emergency of worldwide concern.
According to the WHO, most monkeypox cases to date have been seen in young, sexually active men who live primarily in metropolitan settings.
Although it continues to believe that close contact is the main method of disease transmission, it is looking into examples of potential sexual transmission.
Despite having far less severe symptoms, monkeypox is related to smallpox, killing millions of people annually before eradicating it in 1980.
The illness begins with a fever and swiftly progresses to a rash with scab formation. After 2 to 3 weeks, it often spontaneously clears itself and is typically minor.
According to UK authorities, Britain has reported the most cases (1,076), more than Germany (838), Spain (736), Portugal (365), as well as France (350), per data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
On Thursday, Kevin Fenton, the head of London's public health department, asked anyone experiencing symptoms not to participate in the Pride march in the British city this weekend.
The only laboratory producing a licensed vaccination against monkeypox, the Danish laboratory Bavarian Nordic, announced a fresh shipment of 2.5 million doses to the United States on Friday.
In a major escalation of the nation's immunization effort, US health authorities announced Tuesday that they were immediately releasing 56,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine — five times the quantity distributed thus far — to areas of high transmission.
The European Medicines Agency revealed on Tuesday that a smallpox vaccine's ability to prevent monkeypox was being reviewed.