The epidemic of monkeypox has been deemed a “global health emergency” of worldwide concern by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Monkeypox has now been given the highest level of warning by the WHO, joining swine flu, polio, Zika, Ebola, and Covid-19.
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In recent months, around 16,000 instances have been found in 75 various countries.
Director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, “We have an outbreak that has expanded swiftly over the world through new routes of transmission about which we understand too little.
Although there are tens of thousands of cases, monkeypox has a low mortality rate with only five documented deaths to yet.
“For the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men. That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.” Dr Tedros added.
The director-general explained that while risk levels are modest in the majority of nations, they are high in Europe.
The WHO stated last month that the epidemic was not a worldwide emergency because the sickness stayed within the main risk group.
The WHO is now hoping that by recognizing it as an emergency, the rate of transmission might be halted.
There have only been three cases reported in South Africa so far—three guys who have never traveled abroad before and a Swiss visitor who tested while there.
It was discovered in central Africa for the first time in the 1950s, and it is still endemic in 11 different African nations.
Symptoms include fever, headaches, muscle aches and exhaustion. A rash often forms one to five days after being infected.
The smallpox vaccination has demonstrated to be 85% effective against the disease, but there is no vaccine for monkeypox.
In London especially, the United Kingdom has started administering the vaccine to eligible bisexual and gay men.
