Nearly 5000 cases of monkeypox reported worldwide
WHO advises on the highest alert level
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Nearly 5000 cases of monkeypox reported worldwide
Geneva/Copenhagen The number of cases of monkeypox is growing all over the world. Europe is hardest hit. The World Health Organization is concerned. Experts advise in Geneva whether the alarm should be sounded.
Nearly 5,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in humans worldwide this year. In more than 40 countries outside of Africa, where monkeypox was practically unknown until May, there were 3308 cases, according to the US health authority CDC as of Wednesday shortly before midnight CEST. According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), there are also around 1,600 suspected or confirmed cases in eight other countries, many of which have known such outbreaks for years.
The emergency committee on monkeypox convened by the WHO began its deliberations in Geneva on Thursday. The experts represented in it are to assess whether it is an “emergency of international concern”, the highest alert level that the WHO can impose. The WHO usually follows the recommendation of the experts. This would not have any practical consequences, but it should wake up all countries to look out for cases and take their own precautions to contain the spread.
It was not expected in Geneva that the committee, made up of around a dozen experts from all over the world, would already publish a recommendation on Thursday. “The committee is expected to issue a communication in the coming days,” the WHO said.
Most cases outside of Africa were reported in 29 countries in the WHO European region: a total of 2746, as reported by the EU health authority ECDC and the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization WHO in an analysis. As can be seen from the data, almost all of the confirmed cases are male. Around 44 percent of those affected were between 31 and 40 years old. Deaths have not yet been reported.