"We believe Monkeypox outbreak can be stopped": WHO

A high-level World Health Organization (WHO) official on Tuesday said the rapidly spreading Monkeypox outbreak can be stopped with the right strategies.

"We do at this moment still believe that this outbreak of Monkeypox can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups," said Dr Rosamund Lewis, WHO Technical Lead on Monkeypox at a press briefing in Geneva.

However, she added that time was going by and all need to get together to combat the malady.

On Saturday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the spread of the virus to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the organisation's highest level of alert.

"Through this, we hope to enhance coordination, cooperation of countries and all stakeholders, as well as global solidarity," Lewis said.

WHO assessed the risk posed to public health by Monkeypox in the European region as high, but at the global level as moderate.

This year, there have been over 16,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox in more than 75 countries. Lewis said the real number was probably higher.