Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
A WHO spokesperson told the Reuters news agency the meeting of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards with Pandemic and Endemic Potential, was one of several taking place daily. He did not provide further details.
Germany, France and Belgium on Friday confirmed their first cases of monkeypox, becoming the latest European countries where the disease has spread.
In the past week, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United States, Sweden, Australia and Canada all reported infections.
What do we know so far?
The German case was registered in Bavaria on Thursday, according to the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology in Munich. The patient exhibited symptoms of skin lesions, a major characteristic of the disease.
Following the announcement, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said it was only a "matter of time" before monkeypox was discovered in Germany. He expressed confidence that the outbreak could be contained if action is taken quickly.
The French case was detected in a 29-year-old man in the Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris. French health authorities claimed the man had not recently been in a country where the virus had been spreading.
Belgium reported two cases in the northern Dutch-speaking region of Flanders.
