World Health Organization (WHO) will regroup the experts monkey pox to decide whether the worsening outbreak is now a global public health emergency.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will convene the second meeting of the monkeypox emergency committee. Currently, there are more than 6,000 confirmed cases in 58 countries.
“My team is following the data. I plan to regroup the emergency committee so that they have the latest information on the epidemiology and evolution of the current monkeypox outbreak, and the implementation of preventive measures,” Tedros told a news conference from WHO headquarters in Geneva. AFP, Wednesday (6/7).
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The plan, continued Tedros, the team will be regrouped on 18 July.
“I will bring them together by the week of July 18 or sooner if needed,” he said.
A spike in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
“I continue to be concerned about the scale and spread of the virus,” he said.
Tedros said testing for the virus remains a challenge. He saw the possibility of a large number of cases that were not handled.
“Europe is the epicenter of the current outbreak, recording more than 80 percent of monkeypox cases globally,” he said.
According to WHO data, the majority of monkeypox infections have so far been observed in men who have sex with men, at a young age and especially in urban areas.
On June 23, WHO formed an emergency expert committee to decide whether monkeypox constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) – the highest alarm the WHO can sound.
However, the majority found that the situation had not crossed that threshold.
(afp/sfr)
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