Following the growing outbreak of Monkeypox disease in countries across the globe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially declared the disease as a global health emergency.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus made the disclosure while speaking to newsmen on Saturday.
The health body explained that it activated its highest alert level for the growing Monkeypox outbreak, making the virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease (i.e. an infection transmitted from animals to humans) that is endemic in areas in and near tropical rainforests in Central and West Africa say the according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“It is caused by the Monkeypox virus which belongs to the same Orthopoxviral genus and Poxviridae family of viruses as the Variola virus (Smallpox virus), the Vaccinia virus (used in smallpox vaccine for eradication programme), and the cowpox virus (used in earlier generations of smallpox vaccines) and some other viruses.
“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little,” Tedros said. “For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global Monkeypox outbreak represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.”
Truthlive.net gathered that at least 16,000 cases of Monkeypox have been reported across more than 70 countries globally.
According to the WHO data, the number of confirmed infections rose 77% from late June through early July.
In Nigeria’s case, 101 cases of Monkeypox were confirmed by NCDC in 2022, its highest figure since 2017 when the disease re-emerged.