GENEVA (AP) – The World Health Organization will convene an expert emergency committee to determine whether the outbreak of the smallpox outbreak that has mysteriously spread outside Africa should be considered an emergency world health.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that he had decided to convene an emergency committee on June 23 because the virus has shown recent “unusual” behavior as it spreads to countries far beyond parts. of Africa where it is endemic.
“We believe it also needs a coordinated response due to geographical spread,” he told reporters.
Declaring smallpox smallpox an international health emergency would give it the same designation as the COVID-19 pandemic and would mean that the WHO considers the normally rare disease to be a continuing threat to countries around the world.
The UK said on Monday it had 470 cases of monkeypox nationwide, with the vast majority in gay or bisexual men. British scientists said last week that they could not know if the spread of the disease in the UK had reached its maximum.
The meeting of external experts could also help improve understanding and knowledge about the virus, Tedros said, as the WHO released new guidelines on vaccination against monkeypox.
Dr Ibrahima Soce Fall, WHO’s director of emergencies for Africa, said the number of cases was rising every day and that health officials were facing “many gaps in terms of knowledge of the dynamics of transmission”. “, both in Africa and beyond.
“With the advice of the emergency committee, we can be in a better position to control the situation. But that doesn’t mean we’re going directly to a public health emergency of international concern, “he said, referring to the WHO’s highest level of alert for viral outbreaks.” We don’t want to wait until the situation be out of control to start calling the emergency committee “.
The United Nations health agency does not recommend mass vaccination, but advises the “conscious” use of vaccines. He said disease control is mainly based on measures such as surveillance, case follow-up and isolation of patients.
Last month, a senior WHO adviser said the outbreak in Europe and beyond probably spread by sex at two recent rave parties in Spain and Belgium.
Scientists warn that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is likely to get smallpox from the monkey if they are in close physical contact with an infected person or their clothing or sheets.
The WHO has been working with partner countries to create a mechanism by which some vaccines against smallpox, a related disease, can be made available to affected countries as research continues on their effectiveness against the new outbreak.
Tedros said more than 1,600 cases and nearly 1,500 suspected cases have been reported in 39 countries this year, including seven where monkeypox has been reported for years. A total of 72 deaths have been reported, but to recently affected countries, including Britain, Canada, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United States.
The ongoing smallpox outbreak in Europe and elsewhere is the first time the disease has been known to spread among people who have no travel ties to Africa.
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