The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that 5,322 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox had been reported to it in the current outbreak, 85 per cent of which are in Europe.
“From January 1 to June 30 this year, we have 5,322 laboratory-confirmed cases and one death,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told reporters in Geneva.
A surge in monkeypox cases has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
Chaib said infections had now been reported in 53 countries.
“Eighty-five per cent of cases are in Europe, followed by the African region, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Pacific,” she said.
“The WHO continues to ask countries to pay particular attention to monkeypox cases to try to stop further infections.”
The normal initial symptoms of monkeypox include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a blistery chickenpox-like rash.
