Noting that the majority of cases reported so far are men who have sex with men, WHO Europe director Hans Kluge warned against stigma, stressing that “the monkey pox virus is not linked to any specific group. “.
Europe is at the heart of the spread of monkey pox, the World Health Organization (WHO) European Office said today.
“Europe remains at the heart of this growing wave, with 25 countries reporting more than 1,500 cases, or 85% of the total,” said Hans Klugge, director of the WHO Europe, which has 53 countries, some of them in Central Asia.
A priority for the WHO is to stop the transmission.
“The extent of this outbreak poses a real danger: the longer the virus travels, the more it spreads and the more the disease settles in countries where it is not endemic,” Kluge warned.
The virus, which is commonly found in central and western Africa, is now found outside of Europe, in Australia, the Middle East, North America and South America, and more than 1,600 cases have been reported.
The circulation of the virus, which is transmitted mainly through prolonged contact, should not, however, lead to the cancellation of public events scheduled for this summer, according to the WHO official.
“These events are a great opportunity to raise awareness among young people, who are sexually active and very mobile,” Kluge said, noting that public events are “an opportunity to (…) strengthen our commitment”.
He also noted that the majority of cases reported so far are men who have sex with men, warning against stigma, stressing that “the monkey pox virus is not associated with any particular group.”
At the same time, Katherine Smallwood, head of monkey pox management at WHO Europe, said today that the WHO is examining information about the presence of this virus in the semen of patients, investigating the possibility that it can be transmitted through sexual contact.
However, the WHO official reiterated that the virus is transmitted mainly through close interpersonal contact.
In recent days, scientists have found the DNA of the virus in the semen of a few monkey pox patients in Italy and Germany, but according to Smallwood it is not known whether recent information indicates that the monkey pox virus can be transmitted through sexual contact. .
“This may be something we did not know about the disease before,” he said.
The WHO does not currently recommend mass vaccination for the disease. European health authorities on Tuesday ordered more than 100,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine approved in the United States and considered effective against the virus.
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