OUR World Health Organization reported today that there has been a 21% drop in new cases globally monkeypox last week, mainly due to the slowdown in the epidemic in Europe.

However, these data do not reassure the Organization, since at the same time the epidemic is accelerating in the Americas.

“At the beginning of the epidemic, most cases were in Europe and only a very small part in America. This situation was reversed: 40% of cases are registered in Europe and 60% in America,” commented WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Especially in Latin America, inadequate sanitary measures combined with a lack of access to vaccines are fueling the epidemic,” he said.

By August 24, 44,464 cases had been reported worldwide, with 13 deaths, according to the latest WHO count.

In the week of August 15-21, the number of new cases decreased by 21% compared to the previous week. Two countries have announced the identification of their first case: Iran and Indonesia.

“There are signs that the epidemic is slowing down in Europe, where adequate health measures, behavior change and vaccination are helping to prevent transmission,” explained Dr Tedros.

Danish company Bavarian Nordic, which makes the only monkeypox vaccine approved, announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with the WHO to facilitate its distribution in Latin America and the Caribbean. “We thank Bavarian Nordic for this agreement and hope it will help contain the outbreak in the region,” said Dr. Wood.

Bavarian Nordic (sold as Jynneos in North America and Imvanex in Europe) is a vaccine against smallpox, a deadly disease that was eradicated in the 1980s and is now used to treat monkeypox.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}