For the time being, the World Health Organization has not classified the outbreak of monkeypox in more than 50 countries as an “emergency of international concern”. The UN organization in Geneva announced this on Saturday evening after deliberations by an emergency committee that had been convened out of concern about the infections. However, the committee wants to reassess the situation quickly if the number of infections or the countries affected increases sharply, if there are frequent cases among vulnerable groups or if the virus changes.
“I am deeply concerned about the spread of monkeypox, which has now been detected in more than 50 countries,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. There have been 3,000 cases since the beginning of May. To contain the outbreak, measures such as surveillance, risk communication, contact tracing, isolation, treatment and vaccinations need to be stepped up, he said.
The WHO followed the recommendation of the Monkeypox Emergency Committee, which stated that the situation was “an emergency” but did not see the criteria for an international public health emergency as being met. The independent experts from around the world pointed out that in some countries the number of cases had plateaued or might be falling. In order to be able to assess the risk to public health, open questions about the virus, the routes of infection and the range of symptoms must also be clarified, it said.
Monkeypox, originally only spread in parts of Africa, has been spreading to more and more countries since the beginning of May. According to WHO figures, more than 3,200 confirmed infections in almost 50 countries and one death have now been recorded. Mostly men are affected who have same-sex sex and were no longer vaccinated against smallpox because of their young age. This vaccination also protects against monkeypox. The emergency committee warned against discriminating against affected groups because this would only make it more difficult to combat monkeypox.