WHO reports 1000+ monkeypox cases in non-endemic countries

The WHO reported  at a Wednesday press conference that more than a thousand cases of monkeypox have already been confirmed in 29 non-endemic countries and has warned that in some areas there is already community transmission.

"No deaths have been reported in those countries but there are many cases,  which not only occur among men who have sex with men but there are already cases of community transmission and infected women," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. , who has shown his "concern" about the virus spreading to vulnerable groups, such as children or pregnant women.

For this reason, the director-general of the United Nations agency asked the countries to make all the necessary efforts to identify the cases and their contacts, in order to control the outbreak and prevent further spread of the virus.

Tedros recalled that throughout this year there have been 1,400 suspected cases of monkeypox in Africa and 66 deaths, and regretted that the international community has paid attention to the virus when it has affected high-income countries.

"This virus has been circulating and killing people in Africa for decades without the international community paying attention to it, so it is necessary to provide health care and access to tools in these areas to protect themselves," added the director of the WHO, to insist that the body is not in favor of carrying out mass vaccination, although it is in favor of facilitating access to vaccines for those who need it.