Monkeypox poses ‘moderate risk’ to global health, WHO says – CBC

Sudden appearance of cases suggests virus may have spread undetected for some time, UN agency says

May 29, 2022

The World Health Organization said Sunday that monkeypox constitutes a “moderate risk” to overall public health at global level after cases were reported in countries where the disease is not typically found.

“The public health risk could become high if this virus exploits the opportunity to establish itself as a human pathogen and spreads to groups at higher risk of severe disease such as young children and immunosuppressed persons,” WHO said.

Meanwhile, the sudden appearance of monkeypox at once in several countries where it is not endemic suggests undetected transmission for some time, WHO said.

Twenty-three countries that are not endemic for the virus have reported a total of 257 confirmed cases and 120 suspected cases to the WHO as of May 26, the agency said in a statement.

As of Thursday, Canada had reported 26 confirmed cases to the WHO, and another 25 to 35 suspected cases were under investigation, according to the agency’s latest disease update released Sunday.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/monkeypox-non-endemic-undetected-1.6470363