WHO: No Concern Yet Monkeypox Will Cause Pandemic

Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022. (Reuters)
Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022. (Reuters)
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WHO: No Concern Yet Monkeypox Will Cause Pandemic

Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022. (Reuters)
Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022. (Reuters)

The WHO said Monday it was not concerned for now that the spread of monkeypox beyond the African countries where it is typically found could spark a global pandemic.

Since Britain first reported a confirmed monkeypox case on May 7, nearly 400 suspected and confirmed cases have been reported to the World Health Organization in nearly two dozen countries far from the states where the virus is endemic.

The UN health agency has voiced concern at this "unusual situation", but reiterated Monday that there was no reason to panic over the virus, which spreads through close contact and usually does not cause severe disease, said AFP.

Asked during an epidemiological briefing whether the virus, which is endemic in a range of west and central African nations, might provoke another pandemic, WHO's top monkeypox expert Rosamund Lewis acknowledged that "we don't know."

But "we don't think so," she said. "At the moment, we are not concerned of a global pandemic."

It was important, she said, to take rapid steps to rein in the spread of the virus.

"It is still possible to stop this outbreak before it gets larger," she told an online public forum.

"I don't think we should be scared collectively."

Monkeypox is related to smallpox, which killed millions around the world every year before it was eradicated in 1980.

But monkeypox is much less severe, and most people recover within three to four weeks.

The initial symptoms include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a blistery chickenpox-like rash.

- 'Not a gay disease' -
Experts are trying to determine why the virus has suddenly begun spreading in countries where it has never been seen before, and mainly among young men.

One theory is that monkeypox is spreading more easily among people under the age of 45, who would not have been vaccinated against smallpox.

Vaccines developed for smallpox have also been found to be about 85 percent effective in preventing monkeypox, but they are in short supply.

Experts worry monkeypox could take advantage of the gaps in global immunity to fill the smallpox void.

"We are concerned that it will replace smallpox and we really don't want that to happen," said Lewis, who also heads WHO's smallpox secretariat.

She stressed the importance of raising awareness among those who might be at risk, detecting cases early, isolating those infected and tracking their contacts.

"If we all react quickly, and we all work together, we will be able to stop this ... before it reaches more vulnerable people," she said.

So far, many of the cases have been linked to young men who have sex with men.

Experts stress there is no evidence that monkeypox is transmitted sexually, but suggest there may have been several so-called amplifying events where members of the LGBTQ community have been gathered in close proximity.

"This is not a gay disease," Andy Seale of WHO's sexually transmitted infections program told the public forum, stressing that the virus could spread among any group of people in crowded spaces with close skin-to-skin contact.

Sylvie Briand, WHO's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention chief, acknowledged that "respiratory transmission" was also happening.

But she said it still remained unclear if that transmission was "mostly through droplets or could be airborne."

"There are still many unknowns," she said told Monday's epidemiological briefing.



Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
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Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP

A UK parliamentary committee on Thursday blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts to kill or kidnap British-based individuals since 2022, saying the threat from Iran had "significantly increased".

London's response has been too focused on "crisis management", said parliament's intelligence and security committee, with concerns over Iran's nuclear program dominating their attention too much.

Tehran swiftly issued a "categorical rejection of the unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations".

The committee's claims were "baseless, irresponsible, and reflective of a broader pattern of distortion intended to malign Iran's legitimate regional and national interests", said its London embassy, AFP reported.

The report comes after growing alarm in Britain at alleged Iranian targeting of dissidents, media organizations and journalists in the UK, including accusations of physical attacks.

Iran in March became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which aims to boost Britain's national security against covert foreign influences.

It requires all persons working inside the country for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard to register on a new list or face jail.

"Iran poses a wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat to the UK, UK nationals, and UK interests," Kevan Jones, chairman of the watchdog committee, said in the report's conclusions.

"Iran has a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity and its intelligence services are ferociously well-resourced with significant areas of asymmetric strength."

Jones said it bolstered this through proxy groups, "including criminal networks, militant and terrorist organisations, and private cyber actors" to allow for deniability.

His committee's report said that while Iran's UK activity "appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China", it "should not be underestimated".

The physical threat posed had "significantly increased" in pace and volume, and was "focused acutely on dissidents and other opponents of the regime" as well as Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK, it said.

"The Iranian Intelligence Services have shown that they are willing and able -- often through third-party agents -- to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK," the report said.

"There have been at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap against British nationals or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022."

Similarly, security minister Dan Jarvis said in March Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service had tallied 20 Iran-backed plots "presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents".

The watchdog committee took evidence for two years from August 2021 for its report, a period which saw Tehran implicated in a plot to kill two London-based Iran International television anchors.

In March last year one of the Persian-language outlet's journalists was stabbed outside his London home.

Two Romanian men have been charged in relation to the attack and face extradition to the UK to stand trial.

The counter-terrorism unit of London's Metropolitan Police led the investigation. Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK has said that the Tehran authorities "deny any link" to the incident.