The WHO’s Monkeypox Emergency Committee meets for the first time on Thursday to decide whether the outbreak of cases constitutes an international emergency, but also to make recommendations, particularly regarding vaccinations.
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The meeting was supposed to start in the middle of the day, but the experts’ conclusions shouldn’t be known until at least Friday.
Outside the countries of west and central Africa where the virus normally circulates, an unusual rise in monkeypox cases has been noted since May. The European region is at the center of the spread of the virus.
Known in humans since 1970, monkeypox (“monkeypox” in English) or “simian orthopoxvirosis” is considered a rare disease.
It initially causes a high fever and quickly develops into a rash with scabs. Mostly benign, it usually heals spontaneously after two to three weeks.
In light of this global outbreak of cases, the WHO announced on June 14 that it intends to convene an emergency committee.
“The Emergency Committee will advise the Director-General of WHO on whether the event constitutes a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO said this week at the organization’s highest alert level.
The final decision always rests with the head of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
When a public health emergency is declared, the committee is also responsible for making recommendations “on how to better prevent and reduce the spread of the disease and manage the global public health response.”
From January 1 to June 15, 2103 confirmed cases, including one death in Nigeria, were reported to the WHO from 42 countries including Africa. For its part, the WHO regional office said on Wednesday that 2,746 cases had been reported as of June 21.
The WHO believes it is likely that the actual number of cases worldwide is higher and assumes that the virus must have been circulating before the current outbreak without its transmission being detected.
Known to affect humans since the 1970s, monkeypox is thought to be much less dangerous and contagious than its cousin, smallpox, which was eradicated in the 1980s. It is a disease considered rare due to a virus transmitted to humans from infected animals.
But the focus of the current outbreak is on human-to-human transmission.
The majority of cases reported since May have been in men who have had sex with men. However, the vast majority had not traveled to African countries where the virus was endemic.
Unless the infection is sexually transmitted, transmission can occur through close contact, such as during sex.