Monkeypox: WHO Emergency Committee meeting

WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated his concern over the monkey smallpox outbreak on Wednesday and announced that he will convene an emergency committee, which will help him judge the severity of the crisis by the week of July 18

“With regard to monkey smallpox, I continue to be concerned about the scale and spread of the virus,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, which now has more than 6,000 cases in 58 countries.

On June 25, he said the outbreak did not justify triggering the organization’s highest level of alert.

“Screening remains a challenge, and there is a strong likelihood that there will be a significant number of cases that are not counted,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that Europe is the epicenter of the epidemic, with more than 80% of cases reported worldwide.