Unlikely monkeypox outbreak will lead to pandemic: WHO

The World Health Organization does not believe the monkeypox outbreak outside Africa will lead to a pandemic, an official said yesterday, adding it remains unclear if infected people who are not displaying symptoms can transmit the disease. More than 300 suspected and confirmed cases of monkeypox - a usually mild illness that spreads through close contact and can cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions - have been reported in May, mostly in Europe. The WHO is considering whether the outbreak should be assessed as a "potential public health emergency of international concern" or PHEIC. Asked whether this monkeypox outbreak has the potential to grow into a pandemic, Rosamund Lewis, technical lead for monkeypox from the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said: "We don't know but we don't think so. At the moment, we are not concerned of a global pandemic."