Monkeypox cases fell by a fifth last week as infections fell in Europe, but the outbreak in America is going through “intense transmission,” the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
The WHO sounded the alarm particularly for Latin America, pointing to a lack of public health awareness and action to contain the spread of the virus.
Since early May, an increase in monkeypox infections has been reported outside of African countries where it has long been endemic.
The WHO issued its highest alert on July 24, classifying it alongside Covid-19 as a public health emergency of international concern.
There have been 45,355 cases and 15 deaths in at least 96 countries this year, according to the WHO dashboard.
After four consecutive weeks of increases, the number of newly reported cases of monkeypox fell 21 percent from 5,907 to 5,213 in the past week compared to the previous seven days.
“In the early stages of the outbreak, most cases were reported in Europe, with a smaller proportion in the Americas,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference.
“That has now reversed, with less than 40 percent of reported cases in Europe and 60 percent in America” experiencing a steep increase, he said.
“There are signs the outbreak is slowing in Europe, where a combination of effective public health measures, behavioral changes and immunization are helping to prevent transmission.
“However, in Latin America in particular, insufficient awareness or public health action is being combined with a lack of access to vaccines to fan the flames of the outbreak.”
– Breakdown of cases –
The countries with more than a thousand cases are the United States (15,877), Spain (6,284), Brazil (3,984), Germany (3,387), Great Britain (3,340), France (2,889), Peru (1,207), Canada (1,206) and the Netherlands (1,136).
About 23 countries reported increases in weekly case numbers, according to the WHO’s latest situation report, released on Thursday. Iran and Indonesia reported their first cases in the past seven days.
Sixteen countries have not reported any new cases for more than 21 days, the maximum incubation period for the disease.
Among the reported sexual orientation cases, 96 percent identified as men who had sex with men. The average age of the cases was 36 years.
A sexual encounter was the most commonly reported mode of transmission at 82 percent.
“The majority of cases were likely detected in a party environment involving sexual contact,” WHO said.
Among cases with known HIV status, 45 percent are HIV positive, she added.
#Global #cases #monkeypox #fell #week
