The World Health Organization announced on Thursday that it observed a 21 percent decrease in the number of new monkeypox cases reported last week worldwide, with the disease beginning to slow down in Europe.

However, the organization pointed to a "major outbreak" of the disease in the Americas.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, "At the start of the outbreak, most reported cases were in Europe, and the smaller part in the Americas. The situation has now reversed, with Europe accounting for less than 40 percent of cases and the Americas 60 percent."

He confirmed in a press conference that "particularly in Latin America, insufficient awareness or inadequate public health measures along with lack of access to vaccines are leading to the increased spread of the disease."

Previously, monkeypox was limited to Central and West Africa, and since May it has spread to other parts of the world including Europe and the United States, with 44,464 cases reported as of August globally, including 13 deaths, according to the latest World Health Organization report.

The number of reported cases worldwide decreased by 21 percent from August 15 to 21 compared to the previous week, after four consecutive weeks of increase, according to the World Health Organization's weekly monkeypox report.

The report stated that Iran and Indonesia have reported their first cases in the past seven days.

Ghebreyesus said, "There are signs that the spread of the disease is slowing in Europe, where a combination of effective public health measures, behavior changes, and vaccination are helping to prevent transmission."

On July 24, the World Health Organization issued its highest level of alert declaring an "international public health emergency" to bolster the fight against the disease.