The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency.
The classification is the highest alert that the WHO can issue and follows a worldwide upsurge in cases.
The global health emergency was declared on Saturday, the end of the second meeting of the WHO’s emergency committee on the virus.
According to the WHO’s Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, more than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries.
He said the emergency committee had been unable to reach a consensus on whether the monkeypox outbreak should be classified as a global health emergency.
However, he said the outbreak had spread around the world rapidly and he had decided that it was indeed of international concern.
In the Caribbean – Bermuda on Friday, became the latest country to confirm a case of the monkeypox virus, while St. Lucia said it is monitoring six suspected cases, including four with no travel history out of the island.
The virus has been detected so far in The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Barbados.
Monkeypox was first discovered in central Africa in the 1950s.
Health officials are recommending that people at the highest risk of exposure to monkeypox – including some gay and bisexual men, as well as some healthcare workers – should be offered a vaccine.
Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. The virus is part of the same family of viruses as smallpox, with symptoms similar to smallpox symptoms but milder, and the disease is rarely fatal. Monkeypox is not related to chickenpox.
Initial symptoms typically include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a blistery, chickenpox-like rash or lesions – often on the mouth or genitals in recent cases. Infections are usually mild.
CMC/
 has declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency as the disease reaches more counries.){kind=link}