Monkeypox virus under an electron microscope. File photoZURICH, Switzerland, May 29. The World Health Organization (WHO) currently assesses the risk of monkeypox globally as moderate, but does not exclude that the situation could worsen. As of 26 May, WHO has information on 257 laboratory-confirmed and 120 suspected cases of monkeypox. It is noted that no deaths were reported to the organization.France reported 16 cases of monkeypox infection» The overall public health risk at the global level is currently assessed as moderate, given that this is the first time that cases and clusters of monkeypox cases have been reported simultaneously in widely disparate WHO geographic areas and with no known epidemiological links with non-endemic countries in West or Central Africa,” the organization said in a statement published on Sunday. It is also noted that cases of infection are mainly recorded among men who practice same-sex sex. In addition, it is emphasized that the sudden appearance and wide geographic coverage of many sporadic cases indicates that widespread person-to-person transmission is already occurring and the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks or longer.
First case of monkeypox reported in MexicoAt the same time, WHO notes that the public health risk associated with monkeypox could become high if «the virus seizes the opportunity to establish itself as a human pathogen and will spread to groups at higher risk of severe illness, such as young children and those who are immunocompromised.» According to the organization, most of the population is vulnerable to monkeypox virus because smallpox vaccination, which provides some cross-protection, has been discontinued since 1980 or earlier in some countries anakh.
