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The World Health Organization has issued its highest possible alert for monkeypox, reports Helen Keenan
Monkey pox has been declared a “global health emergency” by the World Health Organization (WHO) following an increase in cases.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the statement on Saturday despite the WHO’s emergency committee failing to reach a consensus.
Declaring a global emergency means that the monkeypox outbreak is an “extraordinary event” that could spread to more countries and requires a coordinated global response.
The WHO has previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the Covid pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016, and the ongoing effort to eradicate poliomyelitis
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries since May.
Saturday’s statement could spur more investment in treating the disease and worsen the scramble for scarce vaccines.
So far, deaths from monkeypox have only been reported in Africa, where a more dangerous version of the virus is spreading, mainly in Nigeria and the Congo.
Monkey pox is a rare infection. It is primarily spread by wild animals in parts of West or Central Africa, making recent cases elsewhere in the world uncommon.
In Europe, North America and elsewhere, monkeypox is spreading among people with no ties to animals or recent travel to Africa.
Dr Rosamund Lewis, the WHO’s leading monkeypox expert, said this week that 99% of all smallpox cases beyond Africa were in men and that of these, 98% involved men who have sex with men.
Experts suspect that the outbreaks in Europe and North America were spread through sex in two radishes in Belgium and Spain.
Image of leaflet issued by the UK Health Safety Agency for the stages of Monkeypox. Credit: UKHSA/PA
What are the symptoms of monkey pox?
It usually takes between five and 21 days for the first symptoms of the infection to appear.
Early symptoms of monkeypox include:
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a high temperature
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a headache
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muscle pains
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back pain
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swollen glands
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chills (chills)
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exhaustion
A rash, which often starts on the face before spreading, usually appears one to five days after the first symptoms.
The rash, sometimes confused with chicken pox, starts as raised spots before turning into small, fluid-filled blisters. The blisters eventually crust over and eventually fall off.
Symptoms usually disappear within two to four weeks.
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