GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for ‘urgent’ action to prevent the spread of monkey-pox in Europe, noting that cases had tripled there over the past two weeks.
To date, more than 5,000 monkey-pox cases have been reported from 51 countries worldwide, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infections in Europe represent about 90 percent of the global total of cases, and 31 countries in the European region have now identified cases, WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri Kluge said on Friday. “Today, I am intensifying my call for governments and civil society to scale up efforts … to prevent monkey-pox from establishing itself across a growing geographical area,” Kluge said in a statement. –Agencies
