WHO: Monkeypox cases dropped 21% over last week

Ivana Saric

Worldwide cases of monkeypox have dropped 21% over the past week, the World Health Organization said in a report released Thursday.

Why it matters: Although the results would need to be confirmed, the latest figures could be an early signal that cases in Europe are beginning to decline, reversing weeks of rising infections, according to the report.

But, but, but: “The number of cases reported in the Region of the Americas shows a continuing steep rise, confirming trends seen over the last several weeks,” the report stated.

• The report, which looked at cases from Aug. 15-21, noted that 23 countries reported increases in their weekly number of monkeypox cases, but the highest increase was in the U.S.

The big picture: The WHO continues to consider Europe “high risk” for monkeypox, while Africa, the Americas, the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia are considered “moderate” risk. The Western Pacific region is considered “low-moderate.”

• Two countries, Indonesia and Iran, reported their first cases of monkeypox in the past week.
• The U.S. accounted for 60% of the world’s monkeypox cases in the last week, while Europe accounted for 38%, the report said.
• Since April, more than 45,000 cases of the virus have been reported in 98 countries, per AP.

State of play: Earlier this month, the Biden administration declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency.

• Given warnings of possible monkeypox vaccine shortages earlier this summer, the Biden administration announced last week that it was speeding up its monkeypox vaccine distribution effort.

Courtesy: (Axios)