Monkeypox outbreak suggests undetected spreading: WHO

• 

The World Health Organization's Director-General stated on Wednesday that the quick emergence of the Monkeypox outbreak indicates that the virus has been spreading unnoticed.

“Investigations are ongoing but the sudden appearance of monkeypox in many countries at the same time suggests there may have been undetected transmission for some time," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference. However, the rapid development of monkeypox in multiple countries at the same time shows there may have been undetected transmission for some time.

According to Tedros, WHO has identified almost 550 confirmed cases from 30 countries where the virus does not normally spread. 

The epidemic offers a "moderate" public health concern, according to a WHO report issued on Sunday.

The WHO stated that “currently, the overall public health risk at the global level is assessed as moderate considering this is the first time that monkeypox cases and clusters are reported concurrently in widely disparate WHO geographical areas, and without known epidemiological links to non-endemic countries in West or Central Africa."

The danger level might rise if the virus “exploits the opportunity to establish itself as a human pathogen and spreads to groups at higher risk of severe disease such as young children and immunosuppressed persons,” according to the report.

According to WHO, monkeypox, a rare viral illness, is “transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding."

Rashes, headaches, fever, muscular and body pains, enlarged lymph nodes, and back discomfort are among the symptoms. According to Tedros, most cases of monkeypox resolve on their own, but certain instances might be severe.

According to Tedros, anyone who has had close contact with an infected person is susceptible to infection.

Tedros stated that “all of us must work hard to fight stigma, which is not just wrong, it could also prevent infected individuals from seeking care, making it harder to stop transmission."

• 

According to the infectious hazards management chief in the World Health Organization (WHO), travel restrictions due to the monkeypox outbreak are not advised.

During a briefing on Friday, Sylvie Briand said, "We don’t recommend travel bans or restrictions and we need to continue to communicate about what we know, what is being done."

Briand believed it is necessary that countries respond adequately to the spread of monkeypox, by tracking and isolating the contacts of those infected.