The World Health Organization has declared Monkeypox a global health emergency.
Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave the outbreak the highest level of alert on Saturday.
It has been given the distinction of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the WHO. Since 2007 that label has been applied to COVID-19, Zika, the H1N1 flu, polio and Ebola.
The monkeypox outbreak has been spreading across the globe, with over 16,000 reported cases from 75 countries and territories.
Ghebreyesus says it has been spreading mainly amongst men.
“For the moment, this monkeypox outbreak is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners,” he says in a Tweet. “That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.”
He warns “discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus,” and is calling on civil society organizations to help fight the stigma of monkeypox.
For the moment, this #monkeypox outbreak is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners. That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups. https://t.co/HTUghSwnzr
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) July 23, 2022
In Canada, there have been 681 publicly reported cases to date.
The Northwestern Health Unit has not identified a case in its area.
Symptoms of the virus are usually mild with a fever, headache, muscle aches, chills and exhaustion. Infected people will also develop a rash, typically on the face, before it spreads to other body parts.
