Monkeypox continues to meet criteria for public health emergency: WHO

Monkeypox continues to meet the criteria for public health emergency of international concern, World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

The WHO label, a "public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)", is designed to trigger a coordinated international response and could unlock funding to collaborate on sharing vaccines and treatments.

The WHO said in July that the rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak represented a global health emergency. However, since then, infection numbers have consistently fallen, particularly in Europe and North America, the hardest hit areas in the early stages of the global outbreak.

Monkeypox suddenly started spreading across the world in May, and within months more than 73,000 cases and 29 deaths have been recorded in over 100 countries. Nearly 90 percent of the cases have been among men who had sex with men.

However, as per the UN health agency, the number of new global cases have dipped significantly in recent weeks.

Even then, experts warn against prematurely declaring victory because a resurgence remains possible and the virus still circulates in the African countries where it has long been endemic.

(With inputs from agencies)