Monkeypox: 6th public health emergency of international concern in recent years

Here is all that you need to know and do to arrest the spread of the monkeypox virus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has triggered the highest alert yet again. Monkey pox is now prevalent in 75 countries and is a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) - the second disease to be tagged so in three years.

The International Health Regulations Committee in January 2020 declared Covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern.

But what exactly is a public health emergency of global concern? The global alert is sounded by the WHO when certain conditions are met, say experts.

Also Read: | Is monkeypox similar to Covid-19? Should you be worried?

For example, in the past, Ebola, Zika virus, H1N1, the polio virus and Covid-19 have been declared a PHEIC.

"A PHEIC need not necessarily be an infectious disease, even a radioactive accident or hazardous chemical could qualify," Dr Rajeev Jayadevan said, adding that the decision to call monkeypox a public health emergency was apparently not a unanimous one.

"We know its fatality rate is extremely low. In fact, deaths were zero in western nations so far in 2022, despite several thousand being infected," he added.