"No Way to Stop Once Virus Starts Spreading"…Experts Urge Swift Response to 'Wonsungi Duchang'

WHO Emergency Response Team Leader: "No Plans Yet to Activate Emergency Committee for Monkeypox"

Monkeypox virus particle microscopic image [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] As confirmed cases of monkeypox surge in Europe, North America, and other countries, infectious disease experts are urging the World Health Organization (WHO) and nations worldwide to respond swiftly with containment measures.

Professor Isabella Ekele, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Geneva Hospital in Switzerland, told foreign media on the 28th (local time) that this time WHO should not respond complacently and that countries need to enforce strict quarantine measures.

She also expressed concern that claims the virus is not very dangerous and that available vaccines and treatments exist could lead to complacency among public health authorities. She warned, "If this virus becomes endemic, we will face another terrible disease and have to make many difficult decisions."

Professor Angela Rasmussen, an infectious disease expert at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, pointed out on Twitter that although monkeypox is a different virus from COVID-19, "we are repeating the same mistakes in failing to respond decisively with the tools currently available."

Professor Piero Olliaro, a monkeypox expert and professor of poverty epidemiology at the University of Oxford in the UK, criticized, "It is always disappointing that only when an outbreak occurs in developed countries do we rush to take new diseases seriously," adding, "To prepare for pandemics, we must respond immediately where the disease exists."

The common point among these experts is the lesson from the past two years that once a virus begins to spread, there is no way to prevent a global pandemic.

Monkeypox, known as an endemic disease in Central and West Africa, has spread to Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Australia since the first reported case in the UK on the 7th, raising concerns about another public health crisis.

WHO has reported over 300 confirmed and suspected cases in more than 20 non-endemic countries as of the day before yesterday, but stated that in non-endemic areas, early identification and isolation of confirmed and close contacts, as well as preventive vaccination, can sufficiently contain the virus, and there is no need for excessive fear.

Recently, Mike Ryan, head of WHO's Emergency Response Team, said, "We are always mindful, but we are not currently considering activating an emergency committee related to monkeypox."