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View all search resultsWHO triggers highest alert on monkeypox
He said a committee of experts who met on Thursday was unable to reach a consensus, so it fell to him to decide whether to trigger the highest alert possible.
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T
he World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday declared the monkeypox outbreak, which has affected nearly 17,000 people in 74 countries, to be a global health emergency -- the highest alarm it can sound.
"I have decided that the global-monkeypox outbreak represents a public-health emergency of international concern," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.
He said a committee of experts who met on Thursday was unable to reach a consensus, so it fell to him to decide whether to trigger the highest alert possible.
"WHO's assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region where we assess the risk as high," he added.
Monkeypox has affected more than 16,800 people in 74 countries, according to a tally by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), published on July 22.
Washington welcomed WHO's declaration as "a call to action for the world community to stop the spread of this virus".
"A coordinated, international response is essential to stop the spread of monkeypox, protect communities at greatest risk of contracting the disease and combat the current outbreak," said Raj Panjabi, senior director for the White House's global-health security and biodefence division.
