The World Health Organization (WHO), warned Friday, May 27, that the 200 monkeypox cases in recent weeks in countries where it is not common, may only be “the tip of the iceberg”.
Sylvie Briand (director of the WHO’s Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness Department), said that “we don’t know” if the virus is spreading beyond the known borders. This was during Sylvie’s presentation to member countries at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
Experts are still trying to figure out what caused this “unusual circumstance”, Sylvie Briand stated. Initial results showed no mutation or variation in the monkeypox virus. She said, “We have an opportunity to stop transmission now.”
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, exactly 219 cases (but no deaths) had been reported by Wednesday.
Monkeypox is endemic in 11 countries in Central and West Africa. It has been discovered in over twenty countries, including the United States and Australia.
On Friday, there were 98 confirmed cases in Spain, 90 in the United Kingdom, and 74 in Portugal according to the Ministry of Health. All the cases in the last country are men, with the majority of them under 40 years old.
Sylvie Briand explained that we are at the very beginning of this event. “We know there will be more cases over the next few days,” Sylvie Briand said. “It’s not something the public should be concerned about.” It is not Covid or any other rapidly-spreading diseases.
