WORLD
WHO raises alarm as monkeypox spreads
Baku, May 24, AZERTAC
The world is facing “formidable” challenges, including Covid, the war in Ukraine and monkeypox, the head of the World Health Organization has warned, according to the Citizen.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was speaking in Geneva, where the UN health agency’s experts were discussing the monkeypox outbreak in 15 nations outside Africa. More than 80 cases have been confirmed in Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and Israel.
However, the risk to the wider public is said to be low.
Monkeypox — the virus that is most common in remote parts of Central and West Africa — does not tend to spread easily between people and the illness is usually mild. Most people who catch the virus recover within a few weeks, according to the UK’s National Health Service.
The outbreak has taken scientists by surprise, and UK health officials have issued new advice, saying high-risk contacts of cases should self-isolate for three weeks. Belgium became the first country to announce a three-week quarantine for infected persons on Friday.
“We face a formidable convergence of disease, drought, famine and war, fuelled by climate change, inequity and geopolitical rivalry,” the WHO head added.
The WHO earlier said a number of other suspected monkeypox cases were being investigated — without naming the countries involved — and warned that more infections were likely to be confirmed. After the outbreak was first identified in the UK, the virus began to be detected across Europe — with public health agencies in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden all confirming cases. Further cases were confirmed in Austria and Switzerland on Sunday.