Is Monkeypox Global Health Emergency? WHO Experts Discuss Alarm Level

A second meeting of the WHO's emergency committee on the virus was being held to examine the worsening situation, with nearly 15,400 cases reported from 71 countries, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Monkeypox experts were discussing Thursday whether the World Health Organization should classify the outbreak as a global health emergency -- the highest alarm it can sound.

A second meeting of the WHO's emergency committee on the virus was being held to examine the worsening situation, with nearly 15,400 cases reported from 71 countries, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.

On June 23, the WHO convened an emergency committee of experts to decide if monkeypox constitutes a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) -- the UN health agency's highest alert level.