The World Health Organization (WHO) is about to declare the monkeypox infection a ‘global health emergency’.
It is understood that a special WHO committee will hold a meeting on Friday local time to discuss the severity of the infection based on the sharp increase in cases in Europe.
The meeting will also be attended by 9 members under international health regulations including 2 members involved in handling polio and Covid-19.
Citing a United Nations (UN) health agency source, the special committee is said to be advising the WHO chief on whether the infection should be declared a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)’ or not.
For the record, PHIEC is the WHO's highest level of warning against infectious diseases worldwide such as H1N1, Ebola, Poliomyelitis, Zika and Covid-19.
Looking at the records, there has been an increase in the record of cases involving monkeypox since early May this year, most of which were reported from countries not normally getting the disease.
In the European region alone there have been 2,746 cases of monkeypox identified by the WHO, and as of June 21 more cases have been reported in 29 countries.
In addition, most of the reported cases were found to be brought by visitors who had visited parts of Western or Central Africa, places where the disease is often detected.
Meanwhile, the WHO note explains that monkeypox is a smallpox virus that is often found in monkeys and is difficult to spread unless there is direct contact from the wound site.
