WHO official: no immediate need for mass monkeypox vaccinations
2022.05.24 00:25
Test tubes labelled “Monkeypox virus positive” are seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
By Natalie Grover
LONDON (Reuters) – The World Health Organization does not believe the outbreak of monkeypox in Europe and North America requires mass vaccinations as measures like good hygiene and safe sexual behaviour will help control its spread, a senior official said on Monday.
In an interview with Reuters, Richard Pebody, who leads the high-threat pathogen team at WHO Europe, also said immediate supplies of vaccines are relatively limited.
The primary measures to control the outbreak are contact tracing and isolation, he said.
Public health authorities in Europe and North America are investigating over 100 suspected and confirmed cases of the viral infection in the worst outbreak of the virus outside of Africa. It has been endemic in Africa for decades.
