It is possible to eliminate the monkeypox outbreak in Europe, World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday, highlighting evidence that case counts are slowing in a handful of countries.
There are encouraging signs of a sustained week-on-week decline in the onset of cases in many European countries, including France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Britain, as well as a slowdown in some parts of the United States, despite scarce vaccine supplies.
“We believe we can eliminate sustained human-to-human transmission of monkeypox in the (European) region,” said WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge. “To move towards elimination…we need to urgently step up our efforts.”
The rollout of Bavarian Nordic’s (BAVA.CO) monkeypox vaccine has been affected by limited supply of the shot, which is also approved to prevent smallpox, although regulators are taking steps to stretch out existing stocks.—Reuters
