WHO warns of further transmission of monkeypox over summer
Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Jun, 2022 05:05 PM
Copenhagen, June 1 (IANS) The WHO has said that it aimed to contain the monkeypox outbreak by stopping human transmission to the maximum extent possible, warning that the potential for further transmission in Europe and elsewhere this summer is high.
In a statement, the WHO on Tuesday added that its European Region "remained at the epicenter of the largest and most geographically widespread monkeypox outbreak ever reported outside of endemic areas in western and central Africa".
Responding to the rise in cases of monkeypox throughout Europe over the past two weeks, WHO's Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge outlined the steps required to "rapidly investigate and control this fast-evolving situation".
The WHO European office is concerned that the recent lifting of pandemic restrictions on international travel and events could act as a catalyst for rapid transmission, Xinhua news agency reported.
"Monkeypox has already spread against the backdrop of several mass gatherings in the region. Over the coming months, many of the dozens of festivals and large parties planned provide further contexts where amplification may occur," Kluge said in the statement.
"The potential for further transmission in Europe and elsewhere over the summer is high."
He urged the strengthening of "cross-country collaboration and information-sharing mechanisms, heightened surveillance, and community communication" to prevent misinformation from being "amplified online and through other sources, leading to negative public health outcomes".
"Our goal is to contain this outbreak by stopping human-to-human transmission to the maximum extent possible," the WHO Regional Director added, calling on efforts to increase awareness of monkeypox and share information on how people can reduce their risk of exposure.
The extensive measures used to combat Covid-19 are not required to tackle monkeypox in Europe, he said, "because the virus does not spread in the same way."
On Tuesday, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the country has recorded 190 confirmed monkeypox cases since May 7.
According to UKHSA, the risk to the UK population remains low, but the agency "is asking people to be alert to any new rashes or lesions, which would appear like spots, ulcers or blisters, on any part of their body".
The Biden administration has kept in place travel restrictions that have severely curtailed international trips to the U.S., citing the spread of the delta variant of the virus. Under the rules, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, the European Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the prior 14 days are prohibited from entering the U.S.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last week warned the Delta variant of the virus is so contagious, vaccinated people who do get infected could be just as big a risk to others as people who aren't vaccinated.
The new requirement, which will be phased in over several weeks in August and September, is the most aggressive step the city has taken yet to curb a surge in cases caused by the delta variant.
The findings have the potential to upend past thinking about how the disease is spread. Previously, vaccinated people who got infected were thought to have low levels of virus and to be unlikely to pass it to others. But the new data shows that is not the case with the delta variant.
President Joe Biden is calling on states and local governments to join those that are already handing out dollars for shots. New York, the nation's biggest city, started doling out $100 awards on Friday.
