Monkeypox outbreak grows, may have been smoldering ‘for some time’
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More than 550 monkeypox cases have been reported in 30 countries where the disease is not endemic, suggesting the outbreak may have been smoldering for a while before it was recognized, WHO said Wednesday.
In a new assessment, WHO raised the risk that the outbreak poses to global public health from “low” to “moderate,” attributing the change to the unprecedented occurrence of cases in multiple geographical areas including the United States, where there have been 18 confirmed cases in nine states as of May 31, according to the CDC.
“Investigations are ongoing, but the sudden appearance of monkeypox in many countries at the same time suggests there may have been undetected transmission for some time,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, MSc, said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
In the assessment, WHO said the risk to public health could become high if the virus “exploits the opportunity to establish itself as a human pathogen and spreads to groups at higher risk of severe disease,” including young children and immunosuppressed people.
WHO noted that most cases have been reported among men who have sex with men presenting with symptoms at sexual health clinics. Additionally, many patients have reported “relatively mild” symptoms, including swollen lymph nodes and lesions, primarily in the mouth or on or around the genitals or anus, according to WHO.
“These communities are working hard to inform their members about the risks of monkeypox and prevent transmission" Tedros said. “But all of us must work hard to fight stigma, which is not just wrong, it could also prevent infected individuals from seeking care, making it harder to stop transmission."
WHO urged affected countries to widen surveillance, look for cases in the broader community and reminded health officials that anyone can be infected with the vaccine-preventable disease following close physical contact with someone who is infected. [Editor’s note: For information on how to prevent, diagnose and treat monkeypox, click here.]
Tedros said WHO anticipates that more cases will be identified.
“What we are seeing is an outbreak in many countries that have not had cases before,” Rosamund Lewis, MDCM, MSc, technical lead for monkeypox in the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, responded when asked if the outbreak could end up being a pandemic. “Outbreaks can be stopped.”
References:
CDC. U.S. monkeypox 2022: Situation 2ummary. 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/index.html#anchor_1653687460218. Updated May 31, 2022. Accessed on June 1, 2022.
WHO. Multi-country monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries: Update. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON388. Accessed on June 1, 2022.
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