Europe remains at 'epicentre' of Monkeypox virus outbreak, says WHO

The World Health Organization’s European regional office said on Wednesday that the continent is currently at the “epicentre” of a major monkeypox outbreak. The last few months has seen a serious increase in cases all around Europe and although there have not been many deaths, the infection rate has caused a lot of concern among the authorities. According to the official WHO data, around 85 per cent of the total number of cases in the world – roughly 1500 – is currently present in 25 countries across Europe. Originating from Africa, the monkeypox virus has been spreading at an alarming rate and WHO will decide whether to categorise it as an international health emergency.

"The magnitude of this outbreak poses a real risk; the longer the virus circulates, the more it will extend its reach, and the stronger the disease’s foothold will get in non-endemic countries," said the regional director for Europe Hans Kluge according to a report by AFP.

The latest guidelines from WHO about Monkeypox asked patients to isolate if they think that they are infected with the virus. Kluge once again repeated the same and urged patients to follow rules.

In a number of countries, the emergency workers are being vaccinated with smallpox vaccines and Kluge said that there are "limited amounts of vaccines and antivirals for monkeypox and limited data on their use", according to AFP.

"Mass vaccination is not recommended or needed at this time,"

"I beseech governments to tackle monkeypox without repeating the mistakes of the pandemic – and keeping equity at the heart of all we do," he added.

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