Monkeypox, WHO confirms 780 cases in 27 countries

The number of monkeypox cases reported to the

(WHO) in 27 countries on 4 continents rises to 780.

This is 523 more cases than last week's survey.

Almost 90% of cases (688) were registered in Europe

: 207 in the United Kingdom, 156 in Spain, 138 in Portugal, 57 in Germany, 33 in France, 31 in the Netherlands, 20 in Italy.

Outside the European area, the largest number of cases (58) were recorded in Canada.

    "Most of the reported cases so far have emerged from sexual health services or other services in primary or secondary health care facilities and have involved primarily, but not exclusively, men having sex with men (MSM)," WHO explains.

    "The epidemiological investigations are underway", continues the World Health Organization.

At present, the most likely hypothesis about the origin of the outbreak is that there was "undetected transmission for an unknown period of time followed by more recent amplification events".