“As of July 22, the ten countries that have recorded the highest cumulative number of cases worldwide are Spain (3,125), the United States of America (2,316), Germany (2,268), the United Kingdom (2,137), France (1,453), the Netherlands (712), Canada (615), Brazil (592), Portugal (588) and Italy (374)”, says the WHO epidemiological update on Monkeypox.

According to the organisation, these ten countries together represent 89% of the cases reported globally to date.

In a statement the WHO director for Europe said that, since May 13, about 12,000 probable or confirmed cases have been reported in European countries and territories, 8% of which resulted in hospitalisation, with no deaths recorded as a result of these infections.

Globally, the number of new cases reported weekly increased by 48% in the week of July 18-24 compared to the previous week, totalling 16,016 Monkeypox virus infections in 75 countries and five deaths this year.

According to Hans Kluge, after the WHO declared the outbreak an international public health emergency, countries, whether they have detected cases or not, must “now act urgently, taking every opportunity to anticipate, control and prevent the spread of the disease.”

“While we recognise uncertainties about how this outbreak will evolve, we need to respond to the epidemiology before us by focusing on the most dominant mode of transmission – skin-to-skin contact during sexual encounters – and the groups most at risk of infection. ”, said the European official of the WHO.

The WHO on Saturday declared the Monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, the highest level of alert.