The World Health Organization is reportedly convening an emergency meeting on the alarming spread of monkeypox around the world — including a possible case in the Big Apple.
The United Nations’ health authority is bringing together leading experts on the rare disease as a number of new countries announced their first confirmed cases Friday, according to the Telegraph.
The main concern is how the virus — usually concentrated in West Africa — may be spreading, the UK paper noted, with many of the new cases among people who had not recently traveled.
The WHO will also be examining why clusters include gay or bisexual men, the paper said, with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) giving similar warnings.
The reported emergency meeting comes as Manhattan specialists continue to investigate a potential case in a patient with symptoms who arrived at Bellevue Hospital.
The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Thursday it was conducting preliminary tests for monkeypox on the patient, who was not identified but was being cared for in isolation.
The first case in the US this year was identified Tuesday in Massachusetts in a man who had recently traveled to Canada.
Canada itself confirmed its first two positive tests on Thursday. Montreal public health officials also noted they had 17 suspected cases.
READ FULL ARTICLE
