WHO reports 21% decline in monkeypox cases globally
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[August 26, 2022]
By Mrinalika Roy
(Reuters) -The number of monkeypox cases
reported globally declined by 21% last week, after a month-long trend of
rising infections, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
The WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency in July. So far,
more than 41,000 cases of monkeypox and 12 deaths have been reported
from 96 countries, with the majority of cases from the United States.
The decrease in case numbers may potentially signal that the outbreak is
declining in the European region, according to WHO's latest
epidemiological report.
"There are signs the outbreak is slowing in Europe, where a combination
of effective public health measures, behavior change and vaccination is
helping to prevent transmission," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus said in a press briefing.
Still, nearly two dozen countries saw a rise in weekly case numbers with
the highest increase reported in the United States. Over 34% of the
current global case count is in the U.S.
The regions of the Americas is continuing to see intense transmission
and the region accounted for 60% of cases in the past month.
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![](../images/082622PIX/health25.jpg)
Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus
positive" are seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022.
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/26/images/ads/current/farmandhome_lda_FAIR_2022.png) "In Latin America in particular,
insufficient awareness or public health measures are combining with
a lack of access to vaccines to fan the flames of the outbreak,"
Tedros said.
With vaccines in short supply, many countries including the U.S. are
trying to stretch out supplies by administering smaller doses to
make the most of existing stocks.
While regulators have justified the approach, Bavarian Nordic, the
maker of the only approved monkeypox vaccine, has raised doubts
about the safety of this so-called fractional dosing approach.
WHO is looking closely at the performance of available vaccines
including use of fractional doses, a senior official said, adding
that the "agency's strategic advisory group of experts will be
meeting at the beginning of October to evaluate the evidence
including fractional dose issues."
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli and Shailesh Kuber)
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