The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared monkeypox a global health emergency. The declaration came at the end of the second meeting of the WHO’s emergency committee on the virus.
Around 65 countries have reported outbreaks of the viral disease as confirmed cases near 16,000.
There had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak.
The classification is the highest alert that the WHO can issue and follows a worldwide upsurge in cases.
WHO said the outbreak had spread around the world rapidly and he had decided that it was indeed of international concern.
“The WHO’s assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk as high,” he added.
Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials such as bedding, according to the WHO.