WHO Report Two New Deaths, Number Of Monkeypox Cases Now Membus 6,000

WHO Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/United States Mission Geneva)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) reported two new deaths from monkeypox since its latest update on June 27, with the death toll from monkeypox being three people since the start of the year, saying the disease had also developed in other countries.

The WHO explained that to date the number of cases of monkeypox has soared by 77 percent since the latest report bringing the total to 6,027 cases. Most of the cases were reported in the European region, but the three deaths reported were in Africa,

Cases have jumped 77 percent since the latest report to 6,027, the WHO said, with most reported in the European region. However, all three deaths have been reported in Africa, the report shows.

The update also shows that more than 99 percent of cases with gender information available are among men.

"This outbreak continues to affect men having sex with men, who have reported recent sex, with one or more male couples showing no signal of continued transmission beyond this network for now", the report said, citing Reuters on July 7.

Illustration of Monkeypox. (Wikimedia Commons/CDC)

The Geneva-based UN agency will hold a committee meeting that will advise declaring the outbreak a global health emergency, the WHO's highest level of vigilance, in weeks starting July 18 or earlier, WHO General Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Earlier, at the end of June, the WHO Emergency Committee determined the outbreak did not meet the criteria for a global health emergency declaration, as quoted by CNN.

But as the virus continues to spread, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wants the committee to raise this issue again, based on recent data on epidemiology and the evolution of the outbreak.

The WHO defines a public health emergency that is of international concern, or PHEIC, as an 'extraordinary event' which is a 'public health risk to other countries through the spread of international disease' and which may 'potentially require a coordinated international response.'

"About monkeypox, I continue to worry about the scale and spread of the virus. Around the world, currently, there are more than 6,000 cases in 58 countries", explained Dr. Tedros.

"Test remains a challenge and there are most likely unhandled cases. Europe is the epicenter of the current outbreak, recording more than 80 percent of cases globally", he added.

Monkeypox, a viral disease, occurs mostly in central and western Africa, where the virus is endemic, but as part of the latest outbreak, the virus has spread to many regions in the world that are usually invisible.