LONDON –
More than 1,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported to the World Health Organization in the current outbreak outside the countries where it is most common in Africa.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of monkeypox being established in these non-endemic countries is real but can be prevented at this time.
Twenty-nine countries have reported cases in the current outbreak, which began in May. No one was reported dead.
At a media conference in Geneva, Tedros also said that this year there had been more than 1,400 suspected cases of monkeypox in Africa and 66 deaths.
“It is an unfortunate reflection of the world we live in that the international community is only paying attention to the smallpox of the monkey because it has appeared in high-income countries,” he said.
He said the outbreak showed signs of community transmission in some countries. The WHO recommends isolating people with smallpox from monkeys at home.
Rosamund Lewis, WHO’s technical director on monkeypox, said “close interpersonal contact” was the main way to spread monkeypox, but added that the risk of transmission was not yet fully understood. of aerosols. Healthcare workers treating patients with smallpox should wear a mask, he said.
Cases are still predominantly among men who have sex with men, the WHO added, although cases have been reported in women.
The United Nations agency is working with organizations such as the UN AIDS and community groups to raise awareness and stop the transmission.
Post-exposure vaccination, including for health workers or close contacts, including sexual partners, ideally within four days of exposure, may be considered in some countries, the WHO added. The vaccines used are designed against smallpox, a related and most dangerous virus that the world eradicated in 1980, but they also work to protect against smallpox, studies have shown.
WHO senior official Sylvie Briand said the agency is assessing the potency of stored smallpox vaccines and contacting manufacturers and countries that have previously committed to vaccines.
29 COUNTRIES WITH NOTIFIED CASES
AMERICAS
- ARGENTINA had confirmed two cases on June 2.
- CANADA had confirmed 81 infections as of June 7.
- MEXICO confirmed its first case on May 28.
- The United States had confirmed 35 cases in 12 states on June 8.
EUROPE
- AUSTRIA confirmed its first case on 22 May.
- BELGIUM detected its first two cases on 20 May and a total of 17 on 5 June.
- The CZECH REPUBLIC detected its first case on May 24, reaching a total of six on June 2.
- DENMARK confirmed its first case on 23 May and a total of three on 3 June.
- FINLAND reported its first case on 27 May and its second on 2 June.
- FRANCE had confirmed 66 cases on 7 June.
- GERMANY reported its first case on May 20 and a total of 80 on June 7.
- GIBRALTAR confirmed its first case on 1 June.
- HUNGARY reported its first case on 31 May.
- IRELAND had confirmed seven cases on 7 June, the first on 28 May.
- ITALY had detected 20 cases on June 1, from the first, on May 19, and suspected one more.
- LATVIA confirmed its first case on June 3.
- MALTA reported a case on June 2.
- THE NETHERLANDS, which reported its first case on 20 May, had confirmed 54 on 7 June.
- NORWAY reported its first case on 31 May.
- PORTUGAL confirmed 25 new cases on June 8, with a total of 191.
- SLOVENIA has reported a total of six cases since the first, on 24 May.
- SPAIN confirmed 27 new cases on June 7, with a total of 225.
- SWEDEN confirmed its first case on May 19 and a total of five on June 2.
- SWITZERLAND had confirmed a total of 10 cases on June 7, the first on May 21.
- The UK had confirmed 321 cases as of 7 June, including 305 cases in England, 11 in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland and three in Wales.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
- ISRAEL had reported two cases on June 2, with the first on May 21.
- MOROCCO reported its first case on June 2.
- The United Arab Emirates had reported a total of 13 infections since the first, on May 24.
ASIA-PACIFIC
- AUSTRALIA, which reported its first case on 20 May, had confirmed six cases on 3 June.
(Report by Mrinalika Roy and Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Toby Chopra, Janet Lawrence and Mark Porter)
Sources: World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, Reuters stories, local authorities