After more than 100 cases were confirmed or reported as suspected in Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) called an emergency conference on Friday to investigate the recent outbreak of monkeypox, a viral virus more frequent in West and Central Africa, Reuters reported.
According to the agency, cases have been documented in at least eight European nations, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, as well as the US, Canada, and Australia, which some already consider as Europe's biggest outbreak ever.
"With several confirmed cases in the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal, this is the largest and most widespread outbreak of monkeypox ever seen in Europe," Germany's armed forces' medical service is quoted as saying.
Germany reported its first confirmed case of monkeypox on Friday, according to the report.
The Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards with Pandemic and Epidemic Potential (STAG-IH) of the World Health Organization (WHO), which advises on infection risks that potentially represent a threat to global health, and which held a meeting on Friday, is not in charge of assessing whether the epidemic should be designated a public health emergency of international significance, the highest level of alert presently applied to the COVID-19 pandemic by the WHO.
Still, the outbreak was described as an epidemic by Fabian Leendertz of the Robert Koch Institute, according to Reuters.
"However, it is very unlikely that this epidemic will last long. The cases can be well isolated via contact tracing and there are also drugs and effective vaccines that can be used if necessary," he said.
Nonetheless, the WHO's European director expressed fear that illnesses could spread faster in the region as people assemble for summer celebrations and festivals.
On Thursday, British officials announced that some health care professionals and others who may have been exposed to monkeypox had been offered a smallpox vaccine.
It is worth noting that also on Friday, Israel's first case of monkeypox was identified in a man in his 30s who had returned from a trip to Western Europe. The man was in stable condition but was put in quarantine for surveillance, according to local media reports.
The early cases, according to the WHO's statements, were exceptional for three reasons: All but one have no relevant travel history to locations where monkeypox is endemic in Africa; the majority are being found through sexual health services and among men who have sex with males, and the vast geographic dispersion shows that transmission has been ongoing for some time.
According to the Reuters report, the UK Health Security Agency stated the recent instances in the country were largely among men who self-identified as gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men.
However, experts warn that it might be still too early to tell whether the ailment has evolved into a sexually transmitted disease.
Monkeypox is often a minor viral infection characterized by fever and a unique bumpy rash. Although there is no specific vaccine for monkeypox, the WHO reports that the vaccines used to eradicate smallpox are up to 85% effective against monkeypox.
Monkeypox incidences have been documented in 11 African countries since 1970. Nigeria has been experiencing a significant outbreak since 2017; according to the WHO, there have been 46 suspected cases this year, with 15 confirmed.
On May 7, the first European case was verified in a person who had returned to England from Nigeria, according to reports.
According to a tracker maintained by a University of Oxford scholar, more than 100 cases have been confirmed outside of Africa since then. Many of the cases are said to be unrelated to trips to Africa. As a result, the cause of this outbreak remains unknown, while health officials have stated that there may be some community spread.