The World Health Organization (WHO) is developing new guidance for countries on how to mitigate the spread of monkey poxamid concerns that cases could rise in the summer months, one of the UN agency’s top advisers told Reuters.
The assumption of the WHO’s work, based on the cases identified so far, is that the outbreak is being driven by sexual contact, said David Heymann, chair of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards with Epidemic and Pandemic Potential. .
Heymann led a meeting on the outbreak on Friday.
Monkeypox is an infectious disease that is usually mild and is endemic in parts of West and Central Africa. It spreads by close contact, which means it can be contained relatively easily through measures such as self-isolation and hygiene once a new case is identified.
The outbreak in 11 countries where it is not endemic is highly unusual, according to scientists. More than 100 confirmed or suspected cases have been registered, most of them in Europe
Heymann, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said experts are likely to give countries more guidance in the coming days.
Health authorities in several countries have warned that cases could rise further due to summer gatherings and festivals.
What seems to be happening now is that it’s been introduced into the population in a sexual way, in a genital way, and it’s spreading like sexually transmitted infections, which has amplified its transmission around the world,” Heymann said.
The WHO meeting was called “because of the urgency of the situation,” he said. The committee is not the group that would suggest declaring a public health emergency of international concern, the WHO’s highest form of alert, which currently applies to the covid-19 pandemic.
Instead, Heymann said the international committee of experts, meeting via videoconference, reviewed what to study about the outbreak and how to communicate it to the public, including whether there is any asymptomatic spread, who is most at risk and what the risks are. various routes of transmission.