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In Germany there are already more than 1000 cases
Photo: IMAGO/Bihlmayerfotografie
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on governments and citizens in Europe to step up their efforts to stop the spread of monkeypox in the coming weeks and months.
Urgent and coordinated action is essential to reverse the spread of the disease, WHO Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge said in Copenhagen.
There is simply no room for complacency.
The Europe region, to which the WHO counts 53 countries and thus also many countries east of the EU, is therefore still the center of the current outbreak.
Nearly 90 percent of all laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide since mid-May have been traced to the region.
A total of 31 countries and territories in the region have reported cases of monkeypox, and the number of confirmed cases in the region has tripled to over 4,500 in the past two weeks.
More than 1000 cases in Germany
According to Kluge, the WHO still rates the risk of monkeypox in Europe as high.
99 percent of those infected are male and most are between 21 and 40 years old, but other cases have also become known among women and children.
Fortunately, no deaths have been reported, says Kluge.
More than a thousand cases of monkeypox have now been recorded in Germany.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported a total of 1054 transmitted cases from all federal states in an online overview as of Friday.
The first cases of monkeypox in Germany became known about six weeks ago.
According to the current state of knowledge, the actually rare viral disease, of which several thousand cases have been detected worldwide, is mainly transmitted through close physical contact from person to person.
Monkeypox is considered a less serious disease compared to smallpox, which has been eradicated since 1980.
Symptoms, which can include fever and a rash, usually go away on their own within a few weeks, but can lead to medical complications and, in very rare cases, death in some people.
svs/dpa/AFP