The World Health Organization has placed Monkeypox on high alert by declaring it as a public health emergency of international concern as global case numbers surpass 16,000. This is the first time the WHO has declared a global health emergency since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020.

The rare status means the WHO now views the outbreak as a major threat to global health and a coordinated effort from WHO and the countries is needed to prevent the escalation of the situation. The WHO’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the emergency committee believes the risk is moderate globally, except in the European region where they assess the risk as high. Earlier Monkeypox—rarely detected outside now has been reported in a dozen of countries. No deaths have been reported among the cases outside of Africa, but five people have died in Africa since the start of the year.

“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations” for a public health emergency of international concern, Dr. Tedros said.
Monkeypox is in the same virus family as smallpox, though it causes a milder disease. Hence the knowledge about smallpox will be beneficial in to fight against monkeypox. Transmission of monkeypox between people was relatively rare in the past, and the virus normally jumped from animals to humans. But monkeypox is now spreading more efficiently between people. The WHO has said the international community did not invest enough resources in fighting monkeypox in Africa before the global outbreak. Monkeypox is primarily spreading through skin-to-skin contact during sex.

In the past, monkeypox normally began with symptoms similar to the flu, including fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, exhaustion, and swollen lymph nodes. The disease then progressed into a rash that can spread over the body. Patients are considered most infectious when the rash develops.