WHO Declares Monkeypox Outbreak a Global Health Emergency

The World Health Organization has declared the Monkeypox outbreak as a global health emergency.

This classification comes after a global spike in cases. This is the highest alert the WHO can issue.

According to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, more than 16,000 cases have currently been reported from 75 different countries.

He stated that the outbreak has already resulted in five deaths.

The coronavirus pandemic and the fight to eradicate polio are the only other global health emergencies plaguing the globe.

According to Dr. Tedros, the virus has quickly spread over the globe, and the WHO had come to the conclusion that the speed of transmission was of international concern. The WHO has cited one of the reasons the virus has been able to spread so fast as a lack of information about modes of transmission.

Dr. Tedros said, “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.”

“Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners,” Dr. Tedros said.

According to Dr. Tedros, the declaration will hasten the development of vaccines and the implementation of strategies to stop the virus’s spread.

The WHO is also making recommendations in an effort to encourage countries to take action to curb the virus’s spread and protect people who are most vulnerable. He said that discrimination and stigma could be just as harmful as the virus itself as many nations have been reporting the virus as mostly affecting gay and bisexual men.

Health officials have already recommended that vaccination be given to those who are most at risk of contracting monkeypox such as healthcare workers.

Still on the outbreak…

Symptoms of the Monkeypox virus include high fever, swollen lymph nodes, blisters, chickenpox-like lesions, and rashes. In some cases, the virus will appear very similar to acne-like pimples on the skin. The infections are usually reported as mild.

The Monkeypox virus was first discovered in central Africa in the 1950s.

The WHO announcing this outbreak as a worldwide emergency is a significant move as it calls for countries to take action and treat the virus seriously. Declaring Monkeypox as a global emergency also increases global awareness and can enable less developed nations to acquire resources they need, such as vaccines, to combat monkeypox.

Monkeypox does not have as high of a transmissibility rate as COVID-19 due to the need for physical contact. There is a vaccine that provides effective protection that has already been created and distributed within a few nations.