The Monkeypox outbreak poses a moderate risk at the global level, the World Health Organisation said on Sunday.
The global health agency also noted that the sudden and unexpected appearance of Monkeypox in non-endemic countries suggests that there might have been undetected transmission for some unknown duration of time.
The WHO said a case of Monkeypox in a non-endemic country is considered an outbreak.
“While the West African clade of the virus has been identified from samples of cases so far, most confirmed cases with travel history reported travel to countries in Europe and North America, rather than West or Central Africa where the Monkeypox virus is endemic. The confirmation of Monkeypox in persons who have not travelled to an endemic area is atypical, and even one case of Monkeypox in a non-endemic country is considered an outbreak.
“While most cases are not associated with travel from endemic areas, Member States are also reporting small numbers of cases in travellers from Nigeria, as has been observed before.”
As of June 2, 2022, 780 laboratory-confirmed cases have been confirmed around the world.
“As of 2 June 2022, there have been no deaths associated within the current Monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries, however, cases and deaths continue to be reported from endemic countries.
“While investigations are ongoing, preliminary data from polymerase chain reaction assays indicate that the Monkeypox virus strains detected in Europe and other non-endemic areas belong to the West African clade,” WHO added.