The fast-growing monkeypox outbreak is a global health emergency, according to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday. He stated that the danger of monkeypox, which spreads through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions, was moderate internationally, with the exception of Europe, where the WHO has classified the risk as high.
Ghebreyesus said on Saturday that he had to intervene as a tie-breaker to overcome a debate over whether the Monkeypox epidemic should be declared a global health emergency. Tedros told reporters after the WHO raised the virus’s alert level to the highest level that nine members of the expert group were opposed to the designation and six were in favour.
“Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern,” Tedros said at a press conference in Geneva, “for the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners.” “Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus,” he added.
This year, there have been over 16,000 cases of monkeypox in over 75 countries, including five deaths in Africa. In the latest epidemic, the viral illness spread mostly among males who had intercourse with men outside of Africa, where it is endemic.
The United States detected its first two monkeypox cases in youngsters on Friday. The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) of UAE declared three new instances of monkeypox, in accordance with the UAE health authorities’ policy on the disease’s early diagnosis and surveillance on Sunday.
The European Union’s executive arm has approved the use of a smallpox vaccination against monkeypox. Imvanex has been licenced in the EU for the prevention of smallpox since 2013. Because of the resemblance between the monkeypox virus and the smallpox virus, it was also considered a possible vaccination for monkeypox.
