Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 20, 2025

Monkeypox outbreak can still be contained, insists UN health agency

Monkeypox outbreak can still be contained, insists UN health agency

The monkeypox outbreak that has been reported in 16 countries and several regions of the world can still be contained and the overall risk of transmission is low, the UN health agency said on Tuesday.
“What we know from this virus and these modes of transmission, this outbreak can still be contained; it is the objective of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Member States to contain this outbreak and to stop it,” said Dr Rosamund Lewis, head of the smallpox team, which is part of the WHO Emergencies Program. “The risk to the general public therefore appears to be low, because we know that the main modes of transmission have been as described in the past.”

Latest data from WHO’s Member States to 22 May, indicates more than 250 confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox from 16 countries and several WHO regions.

Symptoms can be very similar to those experienced by smallpox patients, although they are less clinically severe, albeit visually dramatic, with raised pustules and fever in the most severe cases that can last from two to four weeks.

According to the UN health agency, this Monkeypox outbreak has been transmitted primarily by close skin-to-skin contact, although the virus can also be passed by breath droplets and contaminated bedding.

The incubation period of Monkeypox is usually from six to 13 days but can range from five to 21 days. “We don’t yet have the information as to whether this would be transmitted through body fluids,” Dr Lewis noted, before urging potentially at-risk groups to “be mindful” when in close contact with others.

In an effort to warn against stigmatising those who fall sick from the virus, the UN health agency insisted that although most cases of infection have been linked primarily to men who have sex with men, this is probably because they are more proactive in seeking healthcare advice than others.

The disease “can affect anyone and (it) is not associated with any particular group of people,” Dr Lewis told journalists in Geneva.

She stressed that what is unusual about this outbreak is that “countries that are reporting Monkeypox now are countries that do not normally have outbreaks of Monkeypox.

There are several countries in which this disease is endemic: Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Cameroon are reporting cases at the moment and there are other countries that have reported cases in the past.”

Although vaccination against smallpox provided protection against Monkeypox in the past, people younger than 40 to 50 years of age today, may be more susceptible to Monkeypox infection as smallpox vaccination campaigns ended globally after the disease was eradicated in 1980.

Although WHO Member States asked WHO to keep stocks of smallpox vaccine in case of a new outbreak of the disease, Dr Lewis explained that “it’s been 40 years and these stockpiles may need to be refreshed - they certainly need to be revisited - and WHO has been working on that and has been looking at that also now.”

There are two variants of Monkeypox virus: West African and Congo Basin (Central African). The first human case was identified in a child in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970 and although the name Monkeypox originates from the discovery of the virus in monkeys in a Danish laboratory in 1958, it is a bit misleading, Dr Lewis explained.

“Most of the animals that are susceptible to Monkeypox are in fact rodents, Gambian giant pouched rats, dormice, prairie dogs; those are the types of animals from which there may be spillover - a zoonotic spillover - from animals into people who may be going into the forest, or who may be coming in contact with the virus from a zoonotic route.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
×