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| "The WHO's assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk as high," said Dr. Tedros. added. (Photo by= Getty Images) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] The monkeypox outbreak has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. The classification is the highest alert that the WHO can issue and follows a worldwide upsurge in cases, BBC reported.
It came at the end of the second meeting of the WHO's emergency committee on the virus. More than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries, said WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. There had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak, he added. Dr. Tedros said the emergency committee had been unable to reach a consensus on whether the monkeypox outbreak should be classified as a global health emergency. However, he said the outbreak had spread around the world rapidly and he had decided that it was indeed of international concern. Too little was understood about the new modes of transmission which had allowed it to spread, said Dr. Tedros.
Dr. Tedros said the declaration would help speed up the development of vaccines and the implementation of measures to limit the spread of the virus. The WHO is also issuing recommendations that it hopes will spur countries to take action to stop transmission of the virus and protect those most at risk. Monkeypox was first discovered in central Africa in the 1950s.
