WHO: monkeypox not yet a health emergency

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that monkeypox has not yet reached the status of a global health emergency, although WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was very concerned about the outbreak.

"I am very concerned about the outbreak of monkeypox, which is clearly an evolving health threat that my colleagues and I in the WHO Secretariat are closely following," Tedros said.

The classification of "global emergency" currently applies only to the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing efforts to eradicate polio, and the United Nations World Health Organization has retracted the inclusion of monkeypox in this classification after advice from a meeting of international experts.

According to the organization, the number of confirmed cases of this disease reached 3,200, while one death was reported in the past six weeks from 48 countries that did not usually witness an outbreak of this disease.

The World Health Organization said in a separate statement that although there were some differing opinions within the committee, it was finally agreed upon unanimously that the outbreak at this stage did not constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

So far this year, nearly 1,500 cases and 70 deaths have been recorded in Central Africa, where the disease is most prevalent, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms and skin ulcers, and is most commonly transmitted among men who have sex with men outside of endemic countries.

There are vaccines and treatment available for monkeypox, although the availability of these is limited.

Some global health experts said the WHO might be reluctant to make a declaration because its January 2020 declaration that the novel coronavirus constituted a public health emergency was largely met with skepticism around the world.

But others said the outbreak met the criteria for being called a state of emergency.

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