WHO expects more monkeypox cases to emerge globally

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The World Health Organization (WHO) said it hopes to identify more cases of monkeypox as it expands surveillance in countries where the disease is not normally found.

As of Saturday, 92 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases have been reported in 12 member states that are not endemic for the virus, the UN agency said.

The entity promises to provide more guidance and recommendations in the coming days to countries on how to mitigate the spread of the disease.

“Available information suggests that human-to-human transmission is occurring between people in close physical contact with symptomatic cases,” the agency added.

Monkeypox is an infectious disease that is usually mild and endemic in parts of western and central Africa. It is spread by close contact and can be contained relatively easily through measures such as isolation and hygiene.

David Heymann, a WHO official and infectious disease expert, told Reuters that an international committee of experts had met via video conference to review what needed to be studied about the outbreak and communicated to the public, including whether there is asymptomatic spread, who is most at risk. risk and the various routes of transmission.

The committee, however, is not the group that would suggest declaring a public health emergency of international concern, the WHO’s highest form of warning, which has applied to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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