Worldwide Monkey Pox Cases Exceed 70,000

Case numbers in the global monkeypox outbreak have now topped 70,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday as it warned that a decline in new cases did not mean people should drop their guard. Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes fever, a rash that may initially be mistaken for chickenpox, swollen lymph nodes, and muscular aches.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more than 70,000 cases have now been reported to the U.N. health agency in the year 2022, with 26 deaths.

According to WHO, even though globally cases are continuing to decline, the case numbers last week were on the rise in 21 countries in the Americas, which accounted for almost 90 percent of all cases reported last week.

“A declining outbreak can be the most dangerous outbreak because it can tempt us to think that the crisis is over, and to let down our guard,” Tedros Adhanom told a press conference in Geneva.

He raised concern about reports of cases in Sudan and refugee camps near the border with Ethiopia adding that WHO will continue to treat monkeypox as a public health emergency.

“Like COVID-19, monkeypox remains a public health emergency of international concern, and WHO will continue to treat it as such,” he said.

According to reports, more than 42,000 cases have now been reported from the Americas and nearly 25,000 from Europe.

The first case on May 7, 2022, is thought to have been brought into the UK by a traveler returning from Nigeria. A week later, two more had been diagnosed with monkeypox, and health authorities said they were not related to the initial case.

The 10 countries with the highest total number of cases are the United States, Brazil, Spain, France, Britain, Germany, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and Canada. These countries account for nearly 87% of global cases.

From the WHO’s case dashboard, where the given data was known, 97% were men, with a median age of 35 years old and 49% were HIV-positive.

WHO Director Genral added that the WHO is collaborating with other states to increase testing capabilities and to monitor trends.