The World Health Organization (WHO) has removed the distinction between endemic and non-endemic countries in data on the spread of monkeypox virus.
On the 17th local time, the WHO released consolidated data on the status of monkeypox outbreaks on its website.
In the previous data, the status of outbreaks in African countries, which are endemic regions, and the status of outbreaks in non-endemic regions, such as Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, were separated.
"The distinction between endemic and non-endemic countries has been removed to reflect a unified response," the WHO said.
According to WHO data, as of the 15th of this year, 2,103 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 42 countries around the world.
Only 64 cases, or 3%, of Africa included endemic countries, and the rest all occurred in non-endemic regions centered on Europe.
By country, the UK had the highest number of cases with 524 cases, followed by Spain with 313 cases, Germany with 263 cases, Portugal with 241 cases, Canada with 159 cases, and France with 125 cases.
One death has been reported in Nigeria.
The WHO will hold an emergency committee meeting on the 23rd to review whether monkeypox is an international public health emergency.
This is the highest level of alert and currently applies to COVID-19 and polio.