The World Health Organization has decided to declare the ongoing monkeypox outbreak an international public health emergency after global cases crossed 16,000 with five deaths across 75 countries. The decision was made in an Emergency Committee meeting convened by Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after a similar meeting last month decided against the declaration.
India reported its first monkeypox case on July 14 in Kerala by a man returning to Thiruvananthapuram from the United Arab Emirates. The government sent an expert team National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to monitor the situation.
In a press conference, Ghebreyesus outlined that he was satisfied that criteria for declaring the public health emergency had been met. Accordingly, he lay out a set of detailed recommendations tailored for four groups of countries:
- Where no cases had been reported in the last 21 days or have not reported a case at all
- Countries with imported cases showing human to human transmission
- Countries showing animal to human transmission
- Those countries with capacity for diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines
The detailed strategies can be read here.
"There is also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remains low for the moment", he said in the press conference.
However, he was specific about which group this primarily impacts. "Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners", he said, adding that the emergency could be stopped with the right strategies targeted at the right groups.
He further added that stigma and discrimination be avoided, calling it "as dangerous as any virus".
WHO information shows monkeypox to be normally recurring in Central and West Africa. It is categorised by rashes, fever and lesions and with up to 11% of the reported cases dying.
Read the full press release here.