On July 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued the highest level of alert for the monkeypox outbreak.
- Monkeypox has caused five deaths worldwide.
- As of July 21, 1,567 confirmed cases have been recorded in France.
16.836. This is the number of people who have contracted the monkeypox virus in 74 countries, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Faced with this constant increase in contamination, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized that the monkeypox epidemic constitutes a “international public health emergency”.
“We are in the presence of an epidemic which has spread rapidly throughout the world, by new modes of transmission, of which we do not know much”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the organization, duringa press conference July 23. More than two months after the occurrence of the first cases in Europe, the health authority has thus issued its highest level of alert in an attempt to contain the rise in cases of monkeypox in the world.
The first cases reported in early May
As a reminder, the first people infected with the “Orthopoxvirus” virus were identified in Europe, more precisely in the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal, at the beginning of May. Soon after, other cases were recorded in Canada and the United States. On May 19, France reported a first contamination in Île-de-France. During this period, the disease particularly affected men who have sex with men.
Vaccines ordered mid-June
Over the days, the number of infected people is constantly increasing and now women and children are suffering from the pathology. At the end of May, monkeypox was discovered in more than 20 countries. To combat this outbreak, the European Union announced in mid-June that it had ordered around 110,000 doses of monkeypox vaccines manufactured by the Danish laboratory Bavarian Nordic.
The High Authority of Health (WHO) has recommended administering a dose of the formula to primary vaccinees, that is to say patients who have been vaccinated against smallpox in childhood except for immunocompromised persons, and to children. On July 11, the vaccination was extended to the most exposed groups, in particular homosexual and trans people with multiple partners. Currently, it continues but at a slow pace.
