It is unlikely that the monkeypox outbreak outside of Africa will lead to a pandemic, the World Health Organization said. An official for the WHO said that it remains unclear if people who are infected with monkeypox who do not display any symptoms can transmit the disease.
There are more than 300 suspected and confirmed cases of monkeypox reported outside of Africa, mostly in Europe. The illness is usually mild and spreads through close contact. It can cause flu-like symptoms as well as pus-filled skin lesions.
The WHO is considering whether the outbreak should be assessed as a potential public health emergency of international concern, labeled formally as PHEIC. A PHEIC declaration was made for Covid, as well as Ebola. It would help accelerate research and funding to contain the disease.
The technical lead for monkeypox from the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, Rosamund Lewis, said that the organization does not believe the outbreak has the potential to grow into a pandemic. Lewis said at the moment, the WHO is not concerned about a global pandemic.
Most of the cases popped up in Europe, rather than in Central and West African countries, which is where the virus is endemic. The cases are predominantly not linked to travel.
Scientists are looking into what could explain the unusual surge of monkeypox. Public health authorities suspect that there is some degree of community transmission.
Monkeypox is a rare disease that has been known in humans since 1970. It was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, which is where the name is derived from. The first human case was recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox.
Monkeypox cases that have historically occurred outside of Africa were linked to international travel or to imported animals, including cases in the United States.
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