The World Health Organization calls for an emergency meeting after over 100 cases of the rare disease ‘monkeypox’ have been recorded in Europe.
Germany described the latest outbreak as the largest in Europe ever. Monkeypox cases have been reported in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom as well.
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The United States, Canada and Australia also detected cases of the disease.
The disease was first detected in monkeys, and the disease typically spreads through close contact and has rarely spread outside Africa.
Scientists however are not sounding the alarm just yet and initial studies say that it could not trigger another pandemic like COVID-19 due to its mode of transmission.
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“This is the largest and most widespread outbreak of monkeypox ever seen in Europe,” said Germany’s armed forces’ medical service, which detected its first case in the country on Friday.
There is no vaccine yet for monkeypox but the vaccine used to eradicate small pox can be effective against it at 85%.
