L’Oms declared the end of the global health emergency of monkeypox. However, general manager Tedros Ghebreyesus underlined the need not to let our guard down. As happened with Covid-19, the end of the state of emergency does not mean that the threat to health has ended. During the press conference, the need was underlined to keep surveillance high in the population segment of HIV-infected subjects and men who sex with men, the category in which the majority of cases were recorded.
In May 2022, an atypical outbreak of monkeypox was recorded in Europe following reports of numerous cases in several Member States unrelated to countries where the disease is endemic. After a rapid rise and peak in the number of cases in mid-July 2022, there has since been a sustained reduction in cases.
“It is likely that a combination of factors has helped us better control disease transmission, including improved case detection and related public health and clinical management; immunizations and behavior change among affected communities a following public awareness campaigns”, explained WHO Europe, underlining that “as Member States emerge from the emergency phase of the epidemic, what will happen next is uncertain”.
To date, many Member States in the region no longer have sustained person-to-person local transmission. However, in some countries it is still present, predominantly in some groups more at risk. For this reason, WHO Europe has published the document “Considerations for the control and elimination of mpox in the European Region”. This updates the document to August 2022 and outlines the actions that member states need to take to prepare for the next season of
mass gatherings and to prevent transmission in the medium to long term.