New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global health emergency due to the rapid spread of monkeypox worldwide. Director General of WHO Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the monkeypox outbreak was a matter of international concern. Dr. Tedros said monkeypox currently focuses on men who have relationships with men, particularly those with homosexual partners.
According to the WHO chief, this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies. Meanwhile, he said stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as the virus. That’s why I appeal to social organizations that have been working with HIV-infected people to help treat people infected with monkeypox today.
WHO’s regional director for South-East Asia has said that cases of monkeypox are concentrated in men having sex with men. Regional Director Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh said monkeypox is spreading rapidly in countries where no cases have been seen before. Most cases of this disease are focused on having sex with men. Our actions must be sensitive, free from stigma or discrimination. WHO today called on countries in the South-East Asia region to strengthen surveillance and public health measures for monkeypox. Dr. Khetrapal Singh said, “Monkeypox is a global threat and has the potential for international spread. Apart from this, we still don’t know a lot about the virus. We need to be careful.”
Monkeypox has now reached 75 countries
He said that more than 16000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 75 countries. The WHO South-East Asia Region has reported 5 cases of monkeypox, of which 4 are in India and one is from Thailand. The cases in India are citizens who have returned from the Middle East. However, one of these patients had no travel history. While a foreigner living in Thailand has been found infected with monkeypox.
A month ago, the virus had reached 47 countries
A month ago there were 3040 cases of monkeypox in 47 countries. Its outbreak has spread across five countries at most. Spain has the highest number of people in its grip at 3125. After this, 2890 cases have been reported in America, 2268 in Germany, 2208 in Britain and 1567 in France.
These 11 countries also have more than 100 cases
According to the CDC, 712 cases have been reported in the Netherlands, 681 in Canada, 592 in Brazil, 588 in Portugal, 407 in Italy, 311 in Belgium, 216 in Switzerland, 143 in Peru, 107 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 105 in Israel, 101 in Nigeria. However, only three cases of this in India have been reported in Kerala.
Monkeypox has a history in 6 of the 75 countries
According to the CDC, 16,836 cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide so far. Of these, 16,593 cases were reported in countries where monkeypox cases had never been reported before. Only 243 cases were reported in countries with a history of monkeypox. This matter has come up in 75 countries so far. Of these, 68 are countries where monkeypox cases have been detected for the first time, while only six are countries where monkeypox cases have been detected in the past.