The World Health Organization says the outbreak of smallpox cases outside Africa could be contained, as more governments announced plans to launch limited vaccines to combat the rise in virus infections.
The measures came when authorities investigated 237 suspected and confirmed cases of the virus in 19 countries since early May.
That number is expected to rise, WHO officials said, but most of the infections so far have not been serious.
Scientists do not expect the outbreak to evolve into a pandemic like COVID-19, as the virus does not spread as easily as SARS-VOC-2.
Smallpox is a generally mild viral infection that is endemic to parts of West and Central Africa.
It spreads mainly through close contact and until the recent outbreak, rarely seen in other parts of the world, so the recent emergence of cases has raised alarms.
Most have been reported in Europe.
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom reported 14 new cases, bringing the total to 70 since May 7, and the United Arab Emirates and the Czech Republic recorded their first infections.
“We encourage you all to step up your monkeypox surveillance to see where your transmission levels are and to understand where you are going,” said Sylvie Briand, WHO Director of Global Infectious Risk Preparedness.
Although he said the outbreak “was not normal”, he stressed that it was “containable”.
Vaccines and treatments are also available for monkeypox, he added, and called for appropriate containment measures, more research and global collaboration.
“We don’t make a mountain with a mole,” he said in statements to the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
WHO is working on new country guidelines on vaccination strategies and is convening more meetings to support member states with more advice on how to deal with the situation.
Some countries are already taking precautions to protect people who may have been exposed to the virus.
On Tuesday, the French health authority recommended that adults at risk who have been in contact with a person with confirmed smallpox and health personnel exposed to an infected patient should be vaccinated.
Denmark did the same, providing vaccines to close contacts of those infected with the virus, the Danish Health Authority told public broadcaster DR.
The country has registered two cases.
The vaccine being developed is produced by Bavarian Nordic.
It has the brand name Jynneos in the United States, where it is approved for use against smallpox and monkeypox.
It is also approved for smallpox in Europe, where it is called Imvanex, but has been provided for off-label use in response to cases of monkeypox.
Germany has ordered that 40,000 doses be ready to be deployed to infected contacts if an outbreak in the country becomes more serious.
But for now, officials say they are betting on other precautions.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the outbreak could be contained with early intervention and did not signal the start of a new pandemic, and a senior WHO official gave similar guidance on Monday.
U.S. health officials were preparing Monday to release some doses of Jynneos.
Authorities in the UK were the first to take such action, offering vaccines to some health workers and others who may have been exposed to smallpox last week.
The movements occur when scientists seek to understand more about the means of transmission and who might be most at risk.
Briand reiterated the WHO’s view that the virus was unlikely to have mutated, but said the transmission could be motivated by a change in human behavior, especially when people re-socialize as they move. ‘lift COVID-19 restrictions worldwide.
Health experts monitor mutations that could make a virus more easily transmitted or severe.
Many, but not all, cases have been reported in men who have sex with men, and Briand said it was especially important to try to prevent sexual transmission.
Symptoms include fever and a characteristic rash.
The West African monkey smallpox strain, which is the one identified in the current outbreak, has a mortality rate of about 1 percent.