GENEVA, Switzerland – This current Disease Outbreak News on the multi-country monkeypox outbreak is an update to the previously published Disease Outbreak News of 10 June, with updated data, some further details on surveillance and reporting, One health, gatherings, risk communication and community engagement and International travel and points of entry.
In this edition, we are removing the distinction between endemic and non-endemic countries, reporting on countries together where possible, to reflect the unified response that is needed.
Outbreak at a glance
Since 1 January 2022, cases of monkeypox have been reported to WHO from 42 Member States across five WHO regions (the Regions of the Americas, Africa, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific). As of 15 June, a total of 2103 laboratory confirmed cases and one probable case, including one death, have been reported to WHO. The outbreak of monkeypox continues to primarily affect men who have sex with men who have reported recent sex with new or multiple partners.
While epidemiological investigations are ongoing, most reported cases in the recent outbreak have presented through sexual health or other health services in primary or secondary health care facilities, with a history of travel primarily to countries in Europe, and North America or other countries rather than to countries where the virus was not historically known to be present, and increasingly, recent travel locally or no travel at all.
Confirmation of one case of monkeypox, in a country, is considered an outbreak. The unexpected appearance of monkeypox in several regions in the initial absence of epidemiological links to areas that have historically reported monkeypox, suggests that there may have been undetected transmission for some time.
WHO assesses the risk at the global level as moderate considering this is the first time that many monkeypox cases and clusters are reported concurrently in many countries in widely disparate WHO geographical areas, balanced against the fact that mortality has remained low in the current outbreak.
