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WHO Director-General declares monkeypox emergency situation in public health

The official said that to date, over 16,000 infections in 75 countries and territories and five deaths have been registered

© ULAN/Pool/Latin America News Agency via Reuters Connect

THE HAGUE, July 23. /TASS/. Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern at a briefing on Saturday.

According to him, at its second meeting on July 21, the WHO emergency committee could not reach consensus on this issue. However, given a number of factors, the head of the organization said that he made a decision to declare the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

The official said that to date, over 16,000 infections in 75 countries and territories and five deaths have been registered. He noted that the risk of monkeypox spreading remains moderate globally with the exception of the European region where it is high. The head of the WHO also pointed out that the global community has all the instruments to control the outbreak and stop the transmission of the virus. According to the WHO, about one half of the countries with detected infections have already gained access to vaccines.

Monkeypox is a rare viral disease which is endemic to remote regions near tropical forests of Central and Western Africa and is usually transmitted to humans by wild animals such as rodents and primates. The symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and back pains, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue. It may also involve skin rash. According to the WHO, usually the lethality coefficient during monkeypox outbreaks ranges from 1% to 10% with the majority of fatalities in the younger age groups.

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