Monkeypox: More Than 35,000 Cases, 12 Deaths Reported, High Demand For Vaccines, Says WHO

Monkeypox Outbreak: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the past week saw almost 7,500 monkeypox cases, a 20 per cent increase from the previous week.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday said more than 35,000 cases of monkeypox had been reported from 92 countries. Twelve monkeypox relared deaths have been registered so far. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were high demand for vaccines from the affected countries.

Ghebreyesus said the past week saw almost 7,500 monkeypox cases, a 20 per cent increase from the previous week.

"More than 35,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported to WHO, from 92 countries and territories, with 12 deaths. Almost 7,500 cases were reported last week, a 20% increase over the previous week, which was also 20% more than the week before," ANI quoted Ghebreyesus as saying.

"Vaccines may also play an important part in controlling the monkeypox outbreak, and in many countries, there is high demand for vaccines from the affected communities," he further said.

There have been reports of rich countries hoarding smallpox vaccines to counter the current monkeypox outbreak.

A recent study published in The Lancet has said although the smallpox vaccine has shown to reduce the chance of symptomatic infection and severe illness from monkeypox, protection may decline over time.

The WHO has also said that people infected with monkeypox must isolate their pets after the first-ever case of human-to-dog transmission of the virus in France was reported.

Dr Rosamund Lewis, WHO Technical Lead on monkeypox, said the first human-to-dog transmission of the virus was new but not surprising, The Washington Post reported. 

"It has not been reported that dogs have been infected before. So, on a number of levels, this is new information. It's not surprising information, and it's something that we've been on the watch out for," Lewis was quoted as saying.

The World Health Organisation has already declared monkeypox a global public health emergency of international concern. 

Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease -- a virus transmitted to humans from animals -- with symptoms similar to smallpox although clinically less severe. At present, the majority of cases in current outbreaks are among men who have sex with men.

The common symptoms of monkeypox are fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes. It is usually a self-limiting disease with symptoms lasting for two to four weeks.