WHO calls emergency meeting as monkeypox cases top 100 in Europe

After over 100 cases were confirmed or suspected in Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) called an emergency meeting on Friday to investigate the current outbreak of monkeypox, a viral virus more frequent in west and central Africa.

At least nine nations – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom – as well as the United States, Canada, and Australia – have recorded cases in what Germany termed as the greatest outbreak in Europe ever.

On Friday, Spain reported 24 new cases, mostly in Madrid, where the regional authorities closed a sauna that was related to the majority of the infections.

A man in his 30s was being treated in an Israeli hospital for symptoms that were compatible with the disease.

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First identified in monkeys, the disease typically spreads through close contact and has rarely spread outside Africa, so this series of cases has triggered concern.

However, scientists do not expect the outbreak to evolve into a pandemic like COVID-19, given the virus does not spread as easily as SARS-COV-2.

Monkeypox is usually a mild viral illness, characterised by symptoms of fever as well as a distinctive bumpy rash.

“This is the largest and most widespread outbreak of monkeypox ever seen in Europe,” said Germany’s armed forces’ medical service, which detected its first case in the country on Friday.

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 in charge of assessing whether the epidemic should be designated a public health emergency of international significance, the highest level of alert presently applied to the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization.

“At this moment, it looks that there is a low risk to the general population,” a senior US government official said.