The World Health Organization announced today, Saturday, July 23, 2022, a global public health emergency due to the outbreak of monkeypox, which is the highest alert the organization can issue.

It confirmed that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has declared the highest level of alert in response to monkeypox.

It pointed out that the spread of monkeypox remains under control worldwide except in Europe, where the risks are higher, noting that monkeypox has spread to more than 70 countries.

The organization announced further cases of monkeypox infections around the world.

The announcement comes at a time when more than 16,000 monkeypox cases have been recorded in 75 countries, with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stating that five people have died as a result of the outbreak.

The head of the Disease Prevention Department at the Italian Ministry of Health, Giani Rezza, reported that the cases of monkeypox virus infection in the country have reached 407.

The Ministry of Health quoted Rezza as saying: "The Ministry of Health has prepared, in cooperation with the regions and autonomous provinces, procedures for reporting individual cases."

So far, 407 cases have been recorded in Italy, "with a tendency towards stabilizing the situation, which remains under continuous monitoring, but does not cause any particular concern," according to the Italian official's statement.

Yesterday, Saturday, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, announced a global public health emergency due to the monkeypox outbreak, while at the same time pointing out that this outbreak poses a "moderate" risk to all regions of the world, except Europe where the risk is "high."