The World Health Organization (WHO) activated its highest alert level for the growing monkeypox outbreak, declaring the virus a public health emergency of international concern.

The rare designation means the WHO now views the outbreak as a significant enough threat to global health that a coordinated international response is needed to prevent the virus from spreading further and potentially escalating into a pandemic.

More information about the monkeypox virus available here.

Although the declaration does not impose requirements on national governments, it serves as an urgent call for action. The WHO can only issue guidance and recommendations to its member states, not mandates. Member states are required to report events that pose a threat to global health.

The United Nations (UN) agency declined last month to declare a global emergency in response to monkeypox. But infections have increased substantially over the past several weeks, pushing WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to issue the highest alert.

We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little.

He said that for all of these reasons, he has decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern. Tedros added that the risk posed by monkeypox is moderate globally, but the threat is high in Europe.

There’s clearly a risk that the virus will continue to spread around the world, though it’s unlikely to disrupt global trade or travel right now.

More than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported across over 70 countries so far this year, and the number of confirmed infections rose 77% from late June through early July, according to WHO data. Five deaths from the virus have been reported in Africa this year. No deaths have been reported outside Africa so far.

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) confirmed the first case of monkeypox in Qatar last week, 20 July, from a traveller returning from abroad. The patient has been placed in hospital isolation and is receiving the necessary medical care according to the national protocol for managing confirmed cases of monkeypox.

Source: QNA / MoPH

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