Monkeypox Photo: VCG
The World Health Organization said on Sunday that it had received 780 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox from 27 non-endemic countries, while maintaining that the global level of risk was moderate.
The WHO said the 780 figure for the May 13-Thursday cases was likely underestimated due to limited epidemiological and laboratory information.
“It is very likely that other countries will identify cases and that the virus will continue to spread,” the UN Health Agency added.
Few hospitalizations were reported other than isolated patients.
The WHO listed the non-endemic countries with the highest number of cases, such as the United Kingdom (207), Spain (156), Portugal (138), Canada (58) and Germany (57).
In addition to Europe and North America, cases have been reported – in single figures – in Argentina, Australia, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.
One case of monkeypox in a non-endemic country is considered an outbreak.
“Some countries report that new generations of cases are no longer emerging only from known contacts with previously confirmed cases, suggesting that transmission chains are being missed through the undetected spread of the virus,” the WHO said.
“Although the current risk to human health and the general public remains low, the risk to public health could become high if the virus is used to establish itself in non-endemic countries as a widespread human pathogen,” the report said.
“The WHO assesses global risk as moderate, given that this is the first time that many cases and groups of monkeypox have been reported in both non-endemic and endemic countries.
Most cases reported so far have been presented through sexual health or other health services and have involved mostly men who have sex with men, the WHO said.
The organization said many cases did not present the classic clinical picture of monkeypox: some described the appearance of pustules before symptoms such as fever and lesions at various stages of development – both of which are atypical.
The WHO has said there have been no outbreaks in non-endemic countries, but endemic deaths continue to be reported.
The WHO has listed endemic countries such as Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire, plus Ghana, where it has only been identified in animals. Of the first seven of these countries, 66 deaths were reported in the first five months of 2022.
Last week, the WHO convened more than 500 experts and more than 2,000 participants to discuss knowledge gaps about monkeypox and research priorities.
AFP
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