WHO calls emergency meeting as Europe confirms 100 monkeypox cases | What we know so far

The World Health Organisation (WHO) held an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the recent outbreak of monkeypox, a viral infection more common to west and central Africa, after over 100 cases were confirmed or suspected in Europe.

The WHO committee meeting to discuss the issue is the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards with Pandemic and Epidemic Potential (STAG-IH), which advises on infection risks that could pose a global health threat. It would not be responsible for deciding whether the outbreak should be declared a public health emergency of international concern, WHO’s highest form of alert, which is currently applied to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Here’s what we know so far about Monkeypox:

– The first European case was confirmed on May 7 in an individual who returned to England from Nigeria.

– Since then, over 100 cases have been confirmed outside Africa, according to a tracker by a University of Oxford academic.

– Portugal detected nine more cases on Friday, taking its total to 23.

– Spain reported 24 new cases on Friday, mainly in the Madrid region where the regional government closed a sauna linked to the majority of infections.

– Many of the cases are not linked to travel to the continent. As a result, the cause of this outbreak is unclear, although health authorities have said that there is potentially some degree of community spread.

– Cases have been reported in at least nine countries Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom – as well as the United States, Canada and Australia.

– Germany described it as the largest outbreak in Europe ever.

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– There is no specific vaccine for monkeypox, but data shows that the vaccines used to eradicate smallpox are up to 85% effective against monkeypox, according to the WHO.

– British authorities said they have offered a smallpox vaccine to some healthcare workers and others who may have been exposed to monkeypox.

– Most are being detected through adult health services and among men who have adult with men, and the wide geographic spread across Europe and beyond suggests that transmission may have been going on for some time.

– In Britain, where 20 cases have been now confirmed, the UK Health Security Agency said the recent cases in the country were predominantly among men who self-identified as gay, bisexual or men who have adult with men.

– Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has directed the National Centre for Disease Control and the ICMR to keep a close watch on the situation.

– The Union health ministry has instructed airport and port authorities that any sick passenger with a travel history to Monkeypox-affected countries be isolated and samples sent to the National Institute of Virology.

(With input from AP and Reuters)

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