Due to the increase in cases of monkeypox around the world, the World Health Organization announced the declaration of a monkeypox emergency and called for global cooperation to contain the virus.

The World Health Organization declared a state of emergency this Saturday for the second time in the last two years and due to concerns about the rapid spread of monkey pox. The agency’s dire warning for a monkeypox epidemic is expected to lead to new funding that will strain most governments. Currently, 16,500 cases of monkeypox have been reported in more than 75 countries.

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Declaration of monkey pox emergency

Today, the Secretary-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a conversation with reporters about the widespread spread of the monkey pox virus:

In short, we have an epidemic that has spread rapidly around the world through new modes of transmission about which we know little.

The state of emergency was declared after the second meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee; However, the same committee refused to declare a state of emergency after its first meeting held last month. Adhanom said the committee disagreed on whether the monkeypox epidemic was an emergency.

At the same time, some experts and well-known public health advocates criticized the World Health Organization’s failure to issue the most severe warnings and said that global coordination is necessary to curb this virus.

Monkey pox has spread across the world at an unprecedented rate in the past two months. This virus, shared between humans and animals, causes flu-like symptoms and skin rashes all over the body, and has been present in large parts of Africa for decades. However, during the new outbreak, infections have increased in countries like never before.

Infection in the current epidemic has been reported mainly among men who have sex with men, and experts believe that close contact during sexual activity is likely the main cause of transmission of the virus. The virus is spread through other things such as skin-to-pus contact and in homes through long-term breathing and sharing contaminated items.

The Secretary-General of the World Health Organization said that if countries work together to contain the virus with societies where men have sex with men, it is possible to control the spread of the virus and prevent the disease to a large extent. At the same time, he emphasized that people should refrain from stigmatizing these people and treating them badly. So far, very few deaths have been reported from the virus, although some men have been hospitalized due to severe pain in their genitals.

Currently, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, Spain has the highest number of patients with more than 3,100 cases. America is also in the second place with 2900 cases. Then, Germany and Britain have the largest share with 2200 cases. On Friday, US health officials also reported two cases of monkeypox in children.

Because monkey pox belongs to a family of viruses that include much more deadly diseases than smallpox; Most of the vaccines and drugs that are stockpiled to deal with the possible return of smallpox can also be used to prevent and treat monkeypox.

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