But “the risk of further, sustained transmission to the wider population” should not be ignored, some members of the WHO’s Emergency Committee on the outbreak said in a report after a meeting on Thursday. The report also said that monkeypox virus activity “has been neglected and poorly controlled for years in countries in the WHO African Region.” “The convening of the committee itself reflects growing concern about the international spread of monkeypox,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday, adding that the committee was open to reconvening depending on the evolution of the outbreak. The committee highlighted a number of conditions that should prompt a reassessment of the event, including an increase in the rate of increase in reported cases over the next 21 days, significant spread to and within additional countries, an increase in the number of cases in vulnerable groups and increased morbidity; mortality and hospitalization rates. Tedros called for enhanced surveillance, improved diagnostics, community engagement and risk communication, and the appropriate use of therapeutics, vaccines and public health measures, including contact tracing and isolation. It also called on member states to cooperate, share information and work with affected communities so that public health safety measures are communicated quickly and effectively. Multiple clusters of the monkeypox virus have been reported in recent weeks in several European countries and North America, areas where the virus is not normally found. Endemic monkeypox disease is usually geographically limited to West and Central Africa, while recognition of confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox without a history of travel to an endemic area in many countries is atypical, according to the WHO. Monkeypox, first identified in laboratory monkeys in 1958, is thought to be transmitted from wild animals such as rodents to humans or from human to human. China Daily
