Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/monkeypox-response-in-europe
Monkeypox response in Europe
How six months of working with communities is helping to control the virus
22 November 2022
Six months have passed since the beginning of the monkeypox outbreak in Europe. It started with just a handful of cases reported in the United Kingdom in early May 2022, but soon monkeypox was being reported in many countries, in rapidly increasing numbers. By July, 90% of all laboratory-confirmed and globally reported cases were centred in Europe, leading Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe to state: “Urgent and coordinated action is imperative if we are to turn a corner in the race to reverse the ongoing spread of this disease.” On 23 July, as countries around the world reported escalating cases, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the ongoing monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Four months after cases in Europe peaked, we are at a critical moment in the outbreak, one that will define the disease’s trajectory in the region and beyond. During this outbreak, monkeypox cases have been reported in 43 of the 53 countries in the WHO European region. Thanks to a combination of testing, surveillance, vaccination and changes in behaviour, cases of the disease among the group most affected by this outbreak, men who have sex with men (MSM), especially with those with multiple sexual partners – have declined significantly. This decline is good news, but we cannot lose sight of our ultimate goal in Europe: to stop human-to-human transmission in our communities completely, and to sustain the elimination of monkeypox through continued prevention, detection and response systems...
Monkeypox response in Europe
How six months of working with communities is helping to control the virus
22 November 2022
Six months have passed since the beginning of the monkeypox outbreak in Europe. It started with just a handful of cases reported in the United Kingdom in early May 2022, but soon monkeypox was being reported in many countries, in rapidly increasing numbers. By July, 90% of all laboratory-confirmed and globally reported cases were centred in Europe, leading Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe to state: “Urgent and coordinated action is imperative if we are to turn a corner in the race to reverse the ongoing spread of this disease.” On 23 July, as countries around the world reported escalating cases, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the ongoing monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Four months after cases in Europe peaked, we are at a critical moment in the outbreak, one that will define the disease’s trajectory in the region and beyond. During this outbreak, monkeypox cases have been reported in 43 of the 53 countries in the WHO European region. Thanks to a combination of testing, surveillance, vaccination and changes in behaviour, cases of the disease among the group most affected by this outbreak, men who have sex with men (MSM), especially with those with multiple sexual partners – have declined significantly. This decline is good news, but we cannot lose sight of our ultimate goal in Europe: to stop human-to-human transmission in our communities completely, and to sustain the elimination of monkeypox through continued prevention, detection and response systems...