MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. There is no threat of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, spreading in Russia, the press service of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing told reporters.

"Russia is taking all necessary measures to detect the infection ahead of time and systematically. <…> The situation is under constant control, there is no threat of the disease spreading in Russia," the agency said.

Earlier, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern.

Mpox is a rare viral disease which is endemic to remote regions near tropical forests of Central and Western Africa. The first case of the animal-to-human transmission of this disease was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. According to the WHO, this virus is usually transmitted to humans by wild animals, such as rodents and primates, while its secondary spread among humans is limited. Usually the lethality coefficient during mpox outbreaks ranges from 1% to 10% with the majority of fatalities in the younger age groups.