WHO reports 780 cases of monkeypox worldwide

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Sunday that there are 780 confirmed cases of monkeypox in 27 countries where the virus is not endemic. However, it announced that the global risk level remains moderate.

Latest #monkeypox disease outbreak news.

Since 13 May 2022 & as of 2 June 2022 - 780 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported to or identified by WHO from 27 Member States across four WHO regions, not endemic to the monkeypox virus.

📌https://t.co/tlMXE4RWP9 pic.twitter.com/KpwrHz5He7

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 5, 2022

"It is highly likely that other countries will identify more cases and that there will be a further spread of the virus," the U.N. health agency added in a report released by the international press.

Of the total number of cases, 88% have been diagnosed in Europe, Deutsche Welle detailed. The United Kingdom (207), Spain (156), and Portugal (138) have the most cases of monkeypox, while the United States, Belgium, France, Italy, and the Netherlands have more than a dozen cases.

In Latin America, two cases have been reported in Argentina and one in Mexico, the report adds.

Confirmed cases have tripled in the last week. However, WHO noted that the overall risk of this outbreak remains at "moderate" as this is the first time that transmission has been recorded in non-endemic countries. 

The organization also explained that most of the cases have been detected in sexual health clinics and other primary and secondary care points, "and involve mainly, but not exclusively, men who have sex with men."

So far this year, 1,408 suspected cases of monkeypox and 66 deaths have been reported in monkeypox-endemic countries, mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but there are also several cases in Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Nigeria, according to the WHO report.

Last week, the organization deemed the current monkeypox outbreak outside Africa unlikely to cause a pandemic, although it remains unclear whether people who do not show symptoms can transmit the disease.

"We don't know, but we don't think so. At the moment, we are not concerned about a pandemic occurring. It's very important to describe this because it appears to be an increase in a mode of transmission that may have been underestimated previously," said Rosamund Lewis, monkeypox technical lead for 

For the time being, the agency continues to study whether the current outbreak should be assessed as a "possible public health emergency of international concern." This declaration, previously made with COVID-19 and Ebola, would help accelerate research and funding to contain monkeypox.