BEIJING: The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for international efforts to contain monkeypox transmission as 78 countries and regions report cases of monkeypox, its spokesperson Margaret Harris told CGTN on Friday.
Harris said the number of confirmed cases reported to the WHO stands at over 16,000. Meanwhile, the latest data from Our World in Data is over 20,000.
Countries worldwide began reporting cases of monkeypox in May after the UK first reported three cases of the disease. The WHO declared it a global health emergency on July 23.
Deaths related to this disease have also emerged outside of Africa. Brazil reported its first fatality on Friday, and Spain announced two deaths soon afterward in what is thought to be Europe’s first two deaths from the disease, as reported by Reuters.
The cause of the first death in Spain was encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain associated with the infection. But details of the second have not yet been released.
Several countries and regions have already started taking action in case of a monkeypox pandemic. Australia on Thursday said a monkeypox outbreak is an “incident of national significance.”
Meanwhile, New York State in the U.S. declared a state disaster emergency on Friday, citing rising monkeypox cases, a day after San Francisco.
Harris said scientists are not completely clear on its person-to-person transmission route but said a good percentage of the monkeypox patients are either gay or bisexual, with some exceptions. “There are also women who are infected; we also see it in children,” she said.
–The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
