The World Health Organization has set its highest alert for the growing monkeypox outbreak and said that the virus is an international public health emergency.
The rare designation means that the WHO now sees the outbreak as a serious enough threat to global health that a coordinated international response is needed to stop the virus from spreading further and possibly turning into a pandemic.
So far this year, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 75 countries. From the end of June to the beginning of July, the number of confirmed infections increased by 77%. Currently, men who have sex with other men are most likely to get sick.
