"More than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported to WHO from 78 countries with more than 70% of cases reported form the European region and 25% from the region of the Americas," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing in Geneva.
Monkeypox is typically a non-life-threatening disease but children, the elderly and people with underlying conditions may be at risk of serious complications. Five people have died of monkeypox this year, all of them in Africa.
"So far 5 deaths have been reported and about 10% of cases are admitted to hospital to manage the pain caused by the disease," Tedros said further.
The number of infections worldwide has grown almost six time over a month, leading the WHO director general to declare the outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern" on Saturday.