Zürcher Nachrichten - WHO to assess if monkeypox an international health emergency

EUR -
AED 3.824403
AFN 72.783669
ALL 98.225528
AMD 409.464261
ANG 1.86853
AOA 955.849322
ARS 1064.387711
AUD 1.664145
AWG 1.874215
AZN 1.769528
BAM 1.951341
BBD 2.093416
BDT 123.896861
BGN 1.952286
BHD 0.392649
BIF 3065.294954
BMD 1.041231
BND 1.408082
BOB 7.164627
BRL 6.332664
BSD 1.036831
BTN 88.144565
BWP 14.330251
BYN 3.393046
BYR 20408.117808
BZD 2.084137
CAD 1.497322
CDF 2988.331476
CHF 0.932314
CLF 0.037326
CLP 1029.933253
CNY 7.600257
CNH 7.607949
COP 4571.001897
CRC 523.104561
CUC 1.041231
CUP 27.592608
CVE 110.014643
CZK 25.124215
DJF 184.628074
DKK 7.457658
DOP 63.135717
DZD 140.371386
EGP 53.084848
ERN 15.618458
ETB 129.24454
FJD 2.41152
FKP 0.824636
GBP 0.82807
GEL 2.926165
GGP 0.824636
GHS 15.24117
GIP 0.824636
GMD 74.968838
GNF 8957.529568
GTQ 7.988744
GYD 216.914291
HKD 8.091022
HNL 26.318854
HRK 7.468649
HTG 135.640025
HUF 414.44462
IDR 16858.094479
ILS 3.784951
IMP 0.824636
INR 88.601952
IQD 1358.196146
IRR 43822.821093
ISK 145.095638
JEP 0.824636
JMD 162.219284
JOD 0.738439
JPY 163.034814
KES 134.683497
KGS 90.587188
KHR 4166.478445
KMF 485.34358
KPW 937.106868
KRW 1512.007243
KWD 0.320761
KYD 0.864025
KZT 544.505654
LAK 22693.139901
LBP 92844.823907
LKR 304.404352
LRD 188.179957
LSL 19.088078
LTL 3.074483
LVL 0.62983
LYD 5.094358
MAD 10.434853
MDL 19.097357
MGA 4891.820837
MKD 61.496935
MMK 3381.876049
MNT 3538.101105
MOP 8.300232
MRU 41.233769
MUR 48.781555
MVR 16.046221
MWK 1797.378204
MXN 20.905883
MYR 4.674608
MZN 66.538512
NAD 19.088078
NGN 1610.210968
NIO 38.15281
NOK 11.77626
NPR 141.031704
NZD 1.841224
OMR 0.400872
PAB 1.036831
PEN 3.860777
PGK 4.204392
PHP 60.972335
PKR 288.591389
PLN 4.256512
PYG 8084.524626
QAR 3.779662
RON 4.975999
RSD 116.979118
RUB 105.531204
RWF 1445.297097
SAR 3.912738
SBD 8.729213
SCR 14.520152
SDG 626.296741
SEK 11.493389
SGD 1.411039
SHP 0.824636
SLE 23.794301
SLL 21834.086132
SOS 592.545869
SRD 36.579493
STD 21551.369123
SVC 9.072267
SYP 2616.123123
SZL 19.083389
THB 35.54656
TJS 11.342479
TMT 3.654719
TND 3.30375
TOP 2.438663
TRY 36.671935
TTD 7.036919
TWD 34.038856
TZS 2498.953516
UAH 43.482929
UGX 3803.308389
USD 1.041231
UYU 46.244319
UZS 13367.451677
VES 53.598498
VND 26496.713159
VUV 123.61697
WST 2.876699
XAF 654.461375
XAG 0.035009
XAU 0.000396
XCD 2.813977
XDR 0.790893
XOF 654.461375
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.698065
ZAR 19.131335
ZMK 9372.319369
ZMW 28.693428
ZWL 335.275796
  • CMSC

    0.0200

    23.86

    +0.08%

  • RIO

    -0.0900

    58.64

    -0.15%

  • SCS

    -0.5800

    11.74

    -4.94%

  • JRI

    0.1100

    12.06

    +0.91%

  • BCC

    -0.2600

    122.75

    -0.21%

  • CMSD

    0.0000

    23.56

    0%

  • RBGPF

    59.9600

    59.96

    +100%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    23.16

    +0.22%

  • BTI

    0.1131

    36.24

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.8200

    58.5

    +1.4%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    33.6

    +0.51%

  • AZN

    0.9100

    65.35

    +1.39%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.27

    -0.14%

  • BP

    0.1900

    28.6

    +0.66%

  • RELX

    -0.3100

    45.47

    -0.68%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    8.39

    +0.12%

WHO to assess if monkeypox an international health emergency
WHO to assess if monkeypox an international health emergency / Photo: Brian W.J. Mahy - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP

WHO to assess if monkeypox an international health emergency

The World Health Organization said Tuesday it would hold an emergency meeting next week to determine whether to classify the global monkeypox outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern.

Text size:

The UN agency is also working to change the name of the disease, which was long confined to Western and Central Africa until more than 1,000 cases were detected in dozens of countries across the world over the last two months.

"The outbreak of monkeypox is unusual and concerning," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists.

"For that reason I have decided to convene the Emergency Committee under the international health regulations next week, to assess whether this outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern".

The emergency committee will meet on June 23 to discuss the designation, which is the highest alarm the UN agency can sound.

- New name -

Tedros added that the "WHO is also working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus... and the disease it causes."

"We will make announcements about the new names as soon as possible."

The announcement comes after more than 30 scientists wrote last week that there was an "urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising nomenclature for monkeypox".

"In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatising," they wrote.

While monkeypox was first discovered in macaques, many cases are believed to be transmitted to humans by rodents.

The normal initial symptoms of monkeypox include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a blistery chickenpox-like rash.

However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that current cases do not always present flu-like symptoms, and rashes are sometimes limited to certain areas.

Tedros said that 1,600 confirmed monkeypox cases and 1,500 suspected cases have been reported to the WHO this year from 39 countries, 32 of which have been recently hit by the virus.

While 72 deaths have been reported in countries where monkeypox was already endemic, none have been seen in the newly affected countries, Tedros said.

"Although WHO is seeking to verify news reports from Brazil of a monkeypox-related death there," he added.

- No mass vaccination -

To fight the global spread, the WHO aims to recommend "tried-and-tested public health tools including surveillance, contact-tracing and isolation of infected patients".

However, the WHO does not recommend mass vaccination against monkeypox, he said, after the European Union said Tuesday it had purchased almost 110,000 vaccine doses.

"While smallpox vaccines are expected to provide some protection against monkeypox, there is limited clinical data, and limited supply," Tedros told journalists.

"Any decision about whether to use vaccines should be made jointly by individuals who may be at risk and their health care provider, based on an assessment of risks and benefits, on a case-by-case basis."

Rosamund Lewis, WHO's technical lead for monkeypox, told journalists that there are a few smallpox vaccines that may be protective against monkeypox.

But "much of the data that we have is from years gone by, and/or from clinical studies -- there is not a lot of clinical data," she said.

She called on countries that are vaccinating to share their research and pointed to a set of interim guidance documents released by the WHO.

Tedros also emphasised that vaccines must be "available equitably wherever needed," adding that the WHO is working with its member states "to develop a mechanism for fair access to vaccines and treatments".

M.J.Baumann--NZN