Nearly 200 cases of monkeypox in more than 20 countries, WHO says
- The UN health body described the epidemic as ‘containable’ and proposed creating a stockpile for sharing limited vaccines and treatments worldwide
- The outbreak is probably due more to a change in human behaviour than any genetic change in the virus, the WHO’s director of pandemic and epidemic diseases says
The World Health Organization says nearly 200 cases of monkeypox have been reported in more than 20 countries not usually known to have outbreaks of the unusual disease, but described the epidemic as “containable” and proposed creating a stockpile to equitably share the limited vaccines and drugs available worldwide.
During a public briefing on Friday, the UN health agency said there are still many unanswered questions about what triggered the unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox outside Africa, but there is no evidence that any genetic changes in the virus are responsible.
“The first sequencing of the virus shows that the strain is not different from the strains we can find in endemic countries and [this outbreak] is probably due more to a change in human behaviour,” said Dr Sylvie Briand, WHO’s director of pandemic and epidemic diseases.
Earlier this week, a top adviser to WHO said the outbreak in Europe, US, Israel, Australia and beyond was likely to be linked to sex at two recent raves in Spain and Belgium.
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What is monkeypox and should we be worried that it’s spreading?
That marks a significant departure from the disease’s typical pattern of spread in central and western Africa, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates, and outbreaks have not spilled across borders.