Monkey pox: WHO sees no reason for alarm

The WHO is calling on member states to quickly identify and isolate infected people, the vast majority of whom are expected to have a mild form of the disease, the organization said. Pregnant women, children and immunocompromised people, however, run a higher risk of developing a severe form.

“We currently have a good window of opportunity to stop the spread of the disease,” added Sylvie Briand. “But we don’t know the size of the smallpox vaccine stockpile, which could also be useful against monkeypox,” she continued.

The WHO expects cases of monkeypox, reported in more than 20 countries, to continue to rise. “Right now we don’t know if we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg,” she said.