Case numbers in the global monkeypox outbreak have now topped 70,000 with 26 deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday (Oct. 12) as it warned that declining new cases did not mean people should drop their guard.
According to the WHO, global cases of monkeypox are continuing to decline, but 21 countries in the past week reported an increase in cases – mainly in the Americas, which accounted for almost 90 percent of all cases reported last week.
Currently, the Americas have recorded more than 42,000 cases while Europe has reported around 25,000.
"We caution that a declining outbreak can be the most dangerous outbreak because it can tempt us to think that the crisis is over, and to let down our guard," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Wednesday. "That's not what WHO is doing."
"Like COVID-19, monkeypox remains a public health emergency of international concern, and WHO will continue to treat it as such," he added.
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