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The World Health Organization says the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an "extraordinary" situation that now qualifies as a global emergency.
- Declaring a global emergency means the outbreak requires a coordinated global response
- WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic
- More than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries since May
It is a declaration that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for scarce vaccines.
Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.
Declaring a global emergency means the monkeypox outbreak is an "extraordinary event" that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response.
WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak and the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016.
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The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak.
Past announcements had a mixed impact, given that the UN health agency is largely powerless in getting countries to act.
Last month, WHO's expert committee said the worldwide monkeypox outbreak did not yet amount to an international emergency, but the panel convened last week to re-evaluate the situation.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries since May.
To date, monkeypox deaths have been reported only in Africa, where a more dangerous version of the virus is spreading, mainly in Nigeria and Congo.
In Africa, monkeypox mainly spreads to people from infected wild animals like rodents, in limited outbreaks that typically have not crossed borders.
In Europe, North America and elsewhere, however, monkeypox is spreading among people with no links to animals or recent travel to Africa.
WHO's top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, said last week that 99 per cent of all the monkeypox cases beyond Africa were in men and that of those, 98 per cent involved men who have sex with men.
Experts suspect the monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America were spread via sex at two raves in Belgium and Spain.
AP
