Monkeypox has been present on the European continent since mid-April, according to Belgian doctor and WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge. The lifting of health restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on the advance of this virus, the expert told Belga.
According to Kluge, it is not certain that the spread of the monkeypox virus can be fully contained. “Although a vaccine (MVA-BN) and a specific treatment (tecovirimat) for smallpox were approved in 2019 and 2022 respectively, they are not yet widely available.“, he explains. Therefore, human-to-human transmission must be stopped as much as possible.
