The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak as an international public health emergency.
The rare declaration was announced by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as part of a coordinated international response to prevent the virus from spreading and potentially becoming a pandemic.
It follows a sharp increase in cases of infection in the past few weeks and after the United Nations (UN) agency said it was not a global emergency.
For information, a global health emergency is the highest declaration that requires a committee to weigh the evidence and seek the director general's recommendation.
In addition, the declaration serves as a call to action (urge) rather than a requirement for the national government (mandate).
Commenting on the declaration, Tedros said that the sudden increase in the monkeypox epidemic through a new mode of transmission had forced the WHO to reach the decision.
He added that there were about 16,000 cases reported in 70 countries and positive numbers increased by 77% from the end of June to the beginning of July in addition to recording 5 deaths so far.
So, it is not surprising that the decision was reached by the WHO committee and Tedros announced the declaration before the situation worsened like the situation during Covid-19.
In general, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that infections in the North American and European regions are increasing rapidly at a rate never seen before.
It is also said that skin-to-skin transmission, direct contact with a rash or wound, is the cause of increased infection and that same-sex contact carries the greatest risk of spread.
Meanwhile, the WHO also said that the public need not worry because monkeypox is not a new virus and already has the vaccine.
