The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global public health emergency because of the monkeypox outbreak. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the highest alert level that can be imposed in the event of a health threat in Geneva on Saturday.
This has no practical consequences. The classification is intended to increase the awareness of the member countries, but has no direct practical consequences, because the governments themselves decide on any measures in their countries.
Tedros cited the number of more than 16,000 confirmed cases in more than 60 countries, many of which previously had virtually no monkeypox cases. The US health authority CDC has so far counted more than 15,800 cases in 72 countries. In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute reported almost 2,300 cases on Friday.
At their first emergency meeting on monkeypox in June, the experts advised the WHO Secretary-General against declaring the highest alert level. Since then, however, the cases of infection have continued to spread.
The health emergency has only been declared six times, most recently in January 2020 due to the rapid spread of the then still new type of corona virus. An “emergency of international concern,” to use the official term, is declared for a “serious, sudden, unusual and unexpected” health problem that may spread to other countries. The decision rests with WHO chief Tedros.
A less dangerous cousin of smallpox, which was eradicated about 40 years ago, monkeypox is commonly found in West and Central Africa. Since May, however, monkeypox has also been spreading to other countries, especially in Western Europe, including Germany.
Typical symptoms of the disease include high fever, swollen lymph nodes and pustules similar to chickenpox. The disease is transmitted through close body and skin contact. According to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, 95 percent of cases can be traced back to infection through sexual contact.
