Urgent action needed against monkeypox: WHO official
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Copenhagen: After monkeypox cases in Europe tripled over the last two weeks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday called for immediate action on the matter to prevent the spread of the disease, Agence France-Presse reported.
WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Henri Kluge, said that he is intensifying his call for governments and civil society to augment efforts against monkeypox from establishing itself across a larger geographical area. Urgent-coordinated action is essential to reverse the spread of the disease, he said.
The viral disease has been detected surging in West and Central African countries since early May.
Kluge said that 90 per cent of all lab-confirmed cases recorded worldwide, which amounts to 4,500, were in Europe. The continent remains the centre of the spreading outbreak, and the risk remains high, he added.
A total of 31 countries and areas have reported monkeypox cases, AFP reports.
Kluge said Europe remains at the centre of the expanding outbreak, and the risk remains high.
However, WHO does not view the current status of the virus as a public health emergency of international concern but will review it shortly, Kluge said.
Though the organization is probing the chances of sexual transmission of the disease, at the moment, it maintains that the disease spreads through close contact.
