London, Europe Brief News- The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said that the rapid appearance of the monkeypox outbreak suggests the virus has been spreading undetected.
“Investigations are ongoing but the sudden appearance of monkeypox in many countries at the same time suggests there may have been undetected transmission for some time,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing.
Tedros said that WHO has documented more than 550 confirmed cases from 30 countries where the virus does not typically circulate. More cases are expected.
The outbreak poses a “moderate” public health risk, WHO said in an update posted Sunday.
“Currently, the overall public health risk at global level is assessed as moderate considering this is the first time that monkeypox cases and clusters are reported concurrently in widely disparate WHO geographical areas, and without known epidemiological links to non-endemic countries in West or Central Africa,” WHO said.
The risk level could increase if the virus “exploits the opportunity to establish itself as a human pathogen and spreads to groups at higher risk of severe disease such as young children and immunosuppressed persons,” it added.
Monkeypox, which is a rare viral disease, is “transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding,” according to WHO. Symptoms include rash, headache, fever, muscle and body aches, swollen lymph nodes and back pain. Tedros said monkeypox symptoms generally resolve on their own, but some cases can become severe.
“Anyone can be infected with monkeypox if they have close physical contact with someone else who is infected,” Tedros said, adding that “most cases have been reported among men who have sex with men presenting with symptoms at sexual health clinics.”
The WHO leader warned against subjecting people to stigma for catching the virus.
“All of us must work hard to fight stigma, which is not just wrong, it could also prevent infected individuals from seeking care, making it harder to stop transmission,” Tedros said.
