Breaking 300 Cases, WHO Is Not Worried About Monkey Defects Becoming A Global Pandemic

Illustration of WHO headquarters. (Wikimedia Commons/Yann Forget)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) assesses that an outbreak of monkeypox outside Africa will not cause a pandemic, an official said on Monday, adding it remains unclear whether infected people who are asymptomatic can transmit the disease.

More than 300 suspected and confirmed cases of monkeypox, a usually mild disease that spreads through close contact and can cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions, have been reported in May, mostly in Europe.

WHO is considering whether the outbreak should be assessed as a 'public health emergency of potential international concern' or a PHEIC.

Such declarations, such as those for COVID-19 and Ebola, would help accelerate research and funding to tackle the disease.

Asked whether the monkeypox outbreak had the potential to develop into a pandemic, Rosamund Lewis, technical lead of monkeypox with the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said: "We don't know but we don't think so."

"Right now, we are not worried about a global pandemic," he said

After contracting monkeypox, the duration of the appearance of the rash and the disappearance of scabs is recognized as the infectious period, but there is limited information about whether there is spread of the virus by asymptomatic people, he added.

"We really don't know yet if there is asymptomatic transmission of monkeypox, indications in the past have been this is not a major feature, but this remains to be determined."

The viral strain implicated in the outbreak is understood to have killed a fraction of those infected, but so far no deaths have been reported.

Most cases have emerged in Europe than in Central and West African countries where the virus is endemic, with most not being travel-related.

Therefore, scientists are looking into what might explain this unusual spike in cases. Meanwhile, public health authorities suspect there is some degree of transmission in the community.

It is known, several countries have started offering vaccines to close contacts of confirmed cases of monkeypox.