The World Health Organization (WHO) says experts have advised that monkeypox currently doesn't currently constitute a public health emergency.."The WHO Director-General concurs with the advice offered by the IHR Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country monkeypox outbreak and, at present, does not determine that the event constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)," a Saturday press release stated..According to a news release, the Director-General has the pleasure of transmitting the Report of the Meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country monkeypox outbreak, held on June 23..The announcement came after a WHO emergency committee met on Thursday to discuss the outbreak..The Committee noted that many aspects of the multi-country outbreak are "unusual," but noted that such occurrence of cases in countries where monkeypox virus circulation had not been previously documented.."The fact that the vast majority of cases is observed among men who have sex with men, of young age, not previously immunized against smallpox (knowing that vaccination against smallpox is effective in protecting against monkeypox as well)," the WHO stated..Some members suggested that, given the low level of population immunity against pox virus infection, there is a risk of further, sustained transmission into the wider population. The Committee also stressed that monkeypox virus activity has been neglected and not well-controlled for years in African countries..The Committee also noted that the response to the outbreak requires collaborative international efforts, and that such response activities have already started in a number of high-income countries experiencing outbreaks, although there has been insufficient time to have evaluated the effectiveness of these activities..While a few members expressed differing views, the committee resolved by consensus to advise the WHO Director-General that at this stage the outbreak should be determined to not constitute a PHEIC..The Committee advised the WHO Director-General that countries, in the spirit of Article 44 of the IHR, should collaborate with each other and with WHO in providing the required assistance through bilateral, regional or multilateral channels, and should follow the guidance provided by WHO.
