“In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations. For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a media briefing following the meeting of the WHO Emergency Committee.
There is also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remains low for the moment, he said.
Monkeypox is a virus transmitted to humans from animals, with symptoms including fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes.
Last month, WHO’s Emergency committee said the worldwide monkeypox outbreak did not yet amount to an international emergency, but the panel convened this week to reevaluate the situation.
The WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.
