Over 1,000 Monkeypox Cases Reported in 29 Countries So Far, WHO Warns of ‘Real Risk’

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday said that more than a thousand cases of monkeypox are now confirmed, adding that the risk of monkeypox becoming established in non-endemic nations is “real”.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency was not recommending mass vaccination against the virus and that no deaths had been reported so far from the outbreaks.

“The risk of monkeypox becoming established in non-endemic countries is real,” Tedros said in a press conference.

“More than 1,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox have now been reported to WHO from 29 countries that are not endemic for the disease,” he added.

The zoonotic disease (infectious diseases spread between animals and people) is endemic in humans in nine African countries but cases have been reported in the past month in several other states — mostly in Europe, and notably in Britain, Spain and Portugal.

Greece on Wednesday confirmed its first case of the monkeypox after a man a man who had recently travelled to Portugal tested positive. The man was in hospital and in a stable condition, authorities said.

WHO chief said that cases have been reported mainly, “but not only, among men who have sex with men”.

“Some countries are now beginning to report cases of apparent community transmission, including some cases in women,” he said.

The initial symptoms of monkeypox include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a blistery chickenpox-like rash.

Tedros said he was particularly concerned about the risk the virus poses to vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and children.

He said the sudden and unexpected appearance of monkeypox outside endemic countries suggested that there might have been undetected transmission for some time, but it was not known for how long.

One case of monkeypox in a non-endemic country is considered an outbreak.

Tedros, however, also mentioned that while this was “clearly concerning”, the virus had been circulating and killing in Africa for decades, with more than 1,400 suspected cases and 66 deaths so far this year.