(VOVWORLD) - WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu on Saturday activated its highest alert level for the growing monkeypox outbreak, declaring the virus a public health emergency of international concern.
 WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerlands. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
Tedros said the risk posed by monkeypox is moderate globally, but the threat is high in Europe.
According to WHO officials, nearly half of the countries where monkeypox has been detected now have access to a vaccine against the disease.
Monkeypox is usually associated with travel to Central or West Africa, but since May this year some of the cases have been occurring outside these countries and have begun to spread widely.
To date, more than 15,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in countries where the disease was previously undetected.
In the US and Europe, a majority of infections are recorded in men having sex with men, although health officials stress anyone can be infected with the virus.