- In the last 7 days alone, 7,500 new monkeypox infections were reported around the world.
- After confirming the first case of an infected dog, the WHO said that pets do not pose a risk to humans.
- Regarding Covid-19, during the last four weeks the deaths reported globally increased by 35%.
As part of a press conference organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), an update on the current situation of the monkeypox globally. So far, more than 35,000 cases have been reported in 92 countries and territories, in addition to 12 deaths outside the African continent.
From Geneva, the director general of the highest health body, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, stressed that only During the past week, about 7,500 new cases of the disease were reported. The figure represents an increase of 20% compared to the previous week, and an identical growth to that registered two weeks ago.
“Nearly all cases are being reported in Europe and the Americas, and almost all cases continue to be reported among men who have sex with men, underscoring the importance for all countries to design and deliver services and information tailored to these communities that protect health, human rights and dignity”.
The official stressed that the main objective of all countries is focused on guaranteeing their preparation for the disease and curbing transmission using public health tools. The main ones are improved disease surveillance, careful contact tracing, proper risk communication and community engagement, as well as risk reduction measures.
The Relative Importance of Monkeypox Vaccines
Tedros stressed that in many countries vaccines “may come to play an important role in controlling the outbreak.” A high demand for immunizations has been detected by the affected communities.
At the same time, Tedros highlighted his concern that the same situation of unequal access to vaccines that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic will repeat itself, “and that the poorest will continue to be left behind.”
Animals and pets are not a risk to humans
On the appearance of the first possible case of contagion of monkeypox from a human to a dog in France, the director of Emergencies of the Organization explained that the transmission of the virus to the animal in a closed domestic environment is not unusual.
“What we don’t want to happen is that the disease moves from one species to another. We have to remain vigilant; we have to be cautious. But at the same time, animals and pets do not pose a risk to people right now,” Michael Ryan specified.
He also added that it is important and we should be grateful that people who have animals try to protect them, or that if those animals get sick or infected themselves, they seek care for those animals, as has happened in this case, for which we should congratulate those people for the measures they have taken.
COVID-19 continues to cause tens of thousands of deaths weekly
In relation to the evolution of COVID-19, Tedros explained that the deaths reported worldwide during the last four weeks have increased by 35% and that in the last seven days 15,000 people died. A record that he described as “completely unacceptable” when tools are available to prevent infections.
“We are all tired of this virus and the pandemic. But the virus is not tired of us.”
He explained that the dominant variant of the disease is still Omicron, and that the BA.5 subvariant represents more than 90% of the shared sequences in the last month.
However, he warned that since the beginning of the year the number of sequences shared per week has fallen by 90%, and that the number of countries that share them has been reduced by 75%, which makes it more difficult to understand how it may be changing. the virus.
Also read:
Decalogue to prevent contagion of monkeypox
List with the possible sequelae caused by monkeypox
Monkeypox, is it really a deadly disease?