The World Health Organization (WHO) will convene its emergency committee next Thursday to assess whether the monkeypox outbreak poses an international public health threat. That is the UN agency’s highest warning level, which currently only applies to Covid-19 and polio.
The WHO said on Tuesday that 1600 confirmed infections with the monkeypox virus have now been registered this year, in about 1500 cases there is a reasonable suspicion that the patient has it among the members. The disease has now been diagnosed in 39 countries, including Africa where monkeypox, spread by rodents, is endemic.
In Africa, 72 people have died so far, in Europe and the other new sources of infection, no one has yet. The WHO is consulting with experts worldwide about renaming the virus and the disease it causes. A decision on this will be made shortly.
The WHO is currently not in favor of mass vaccination. High-risk groups could receive the regular smallpox vaccine, which is also believed to be effective against monkeypox. The European Union has ordered more than 100,000 doses in Denmark. The Netherlands, where eighty infections have now been identified, has its own stock.
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