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The number of confirmed cases of monkeypox in countries where the virus does not otherwise circulate has risen to 780, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The infections were reported from May 13 to June 2 in 27 mostly Western countries, the U.N. agency said Sunday. Further, mainly but not exclusively, men who have sex with men were affected, it said. The majority of cases (688) were reported in the European countries.
WHO continues to classify the global risk from monkeypox as “moderate.” However, “a high public health risk could emerge if the virus manages to become a common human pathogen in non-endemic countries,” it said.
Monkeypox is considered a less severe disease compared with smallpox, which has been eradicated since 1980. The pathogen is transmitted primarily through close human-to-human contact. Symptoms usually disappear on their own within a few weeks, but can lead to medical complications in some people and death in very rare cases. There have been no deaths among cases recorded in Western countries, according to WHO, but a total of 66 people have died in five African countries this year in connection with monkeypox.
- source: k.at
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