The World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
“The global outbreak of monkeypox represents a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing in Geneva on Saturday.
At the virtual news conference, Ghebreyesus also said that the outbreak has spread around the world “rapidly,” including to those who had not seen it before, and that officials understand “too little” about the disease. The risk of monkeypox is moderate globally, except in the European region, where the risk is rated as high, he said.
Ghebreyesus also outlined a set of recommendations for countries that have not yet reported a case of smallpox or have not reported a case for 21 days; those with newly imported cases of monkeypox who are experiencing person-to-person transmission; those with transmission of monkey pox between animals and humans; and those with manufacturing capabilities for diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.
This is the seventh event declared a PHEIC by the global health agency since 2007.
The other six include the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic; the Ebola outbreak in West Africa from 2013 to 2015; the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2018 to 2020; the Zika outbreak in 2016; the continued spread of poliovirus that began in 2014; and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Library of Medicine.
More than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have now been detected worldwide in 75 countries and territories, according to the WHO. So far, five deaths have been reported, all in Africa.
In the United States, more than 2,800 cases are confirmed in 44 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In New York, which has reported the highest number in the United States, a total of 900 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed, with the vast majority of them – 93% – detected in New York City, state officials said Friday.
Digitally colored electron microscopy image of a monkeypox virus particle obtained from a clinical sample associated with a 2003 prairie dog outbreak, released June 6, 2022.
Smith/Gado Collection via Getty Images
US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra called the WHO statement a “call to action for the global health community.”
“Monkeypox has spread around the world, and we will continue to take decisive action to address it both here in the US and, working together with our partners abroad, globally,” Becerra said in a statement.
He added that the Biden administration plans to “accelerate” its response to smallpox “in the coming days,” including making vaccines, tests and treatments available to those who need them.
US health officials had reported that cases will continue to rise amid the outbreak.
“I would like you all to understand that we anticipate an increase in cases in the coming weeks,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a news conference last week, noting that with the increase in testing, an improved reporting system for states and continuity. spread of the disease, more cases will be identified.
He added: “We know that symptoms of monkeypox usually start within three weeks of exposure to the virus, so we expect to see an increase in cases throughout the month of July and into August”.
Prior to the outbreak, most cases occurred in countries where the virus is endemic, typically West and Central Africa.
Monkey pox is generally a mild illness with the most common symptoms being fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches. Patients may develop a rash and lesions that often begin on the face before spreading to the rest of the body.
People are usually infected by animals through a bite or scratch or through the preparation and consumption of contaminated meat.
However, in the current outbreak, most of the spread has come through contact with wounds or bodily fluids of infected people, making it less transmissible than other viruses such as COVID-19.
Most cases have been reported among men who identify as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men, although experts have stressed that anyone can be infected. There is currently no evidence that monkeypox is a sexually transmitted infection, although Ghebreyesus said more needs to be learned if there are new modes of transmission through sexual activity. Ghebreyesus said increased travel during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to the spread of the virus.
Ghebreyesus was optimistic that it may be possible to control the spread “precisely because it mainly stays in a group, which as I said are very active in health-seeking behavior and they support each other to reduce risk.”
“We want to encourage this group to continue to take both individual and collective actions to reduce their own personal risk,” he said.
In an effort to combat the spread of the disease, health officials are working to increase the distribution of smallpox vaccines.
Last week, HHS announced it had ordered an additional 2.5 million doses of JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine, amid increased demand for the vaccinations. The department’s latest order is in addition to its July 1 order of 2.5 million doses, which will begin arriving over the next year. The federal government hopes to have an available supply of 7 million doses by mid-2023.
“I want to acknowledge that at this time the demand for vaccines from jurisdictions is greater than our current available supply, and we know that’s frustrating,” Walensky said last week.
Teams are “actively working” to strategically increase supply to get vaccines to “those who need it most,” Walensky noted.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, also acknowledged this week that the need for additional doses of monkeypox vaccine is paramount.
“We have to keep going and we have to keep doing more,” Jha added. “In the coming days and weeks, you’re just going to see more and more.”
ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.