WHO: Outbreaks of endemic diseases such as monkeypox are becoming more frequent due to factors including climate change

　　The Paper reporter Nan Boyi

　　On June 1, local time, Mike Ryan, head of the World Health Organization's health emergency program, warned that outbreaks of endemic diseases such as monkeypox and Lassa fever were becoming more frequent and prolonged.

　　According to a Reuters report on June 1, Ryan said that climate change has led to rapid changes in weather conditions such as droughts, which are changing animals and humans foraging habits, causing many diseases that were originally transmitted between animals to begin to spread to humans.

"Unfortunately, this ability to amplify the spread of disease is improving, and outbreaks are becoming more persistent and more frequent," Ryan said.

　　More than 550 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported in 30 countries and territories around the world, Rosamund Lewis, head of the WHO's emergency program smallpox secretariat, said on May 31, CNN reported. .

　　"What we're seeing now is very different from what we've seen before," Lewis noted. "All cases are clustered in a relatively short period of time. Over a period of days, weeks, we've seen more than 550 cases of monkeypox. Lewis emphasized that the WHO still does not know the source of the monkeypox epidemic, and countries should use the "window of opportunity" to prevent the monkeypox epidemic from evolving into a more serious outbreak.

Previously, the WHO assessed the global public health risk of monkeypox as moderate.

　　In addition, the WHO also called on countries to be vigilant for patients with symptoms such as rash, fever, and swollen lymph nodes, and asked countries to provide (monkeypox virus) testing for patients with the above symptoms.

　　Monkeypox virus can be transmitted from animals to humans through close contact, but human-to-human transmission can also occur in close contact with patients.

Most patients recover within weeks, but others develop severe symptoms and even die.

Monkeypox is most common in West and Central Africa, but cases of monkeypox have been reported in several non-monkeypox-endemic countries and there is no history of travel to the area.

Countries should raise awareness of the virus and take comprehensive measures to limit its further spread, including through timely detection and isolation of cases, the WHO said.