The monkeypox outbreak is one of the major problems facing the world right now. The warning comes from the head of the World Health Organisation.
WHO is meeting in Geneva to discuss the outbreak of the virus which has seen 20 cases in the UK with more expected to be reported today. There have been around 80 cases in Europe, the United States, Australia, Canada and Israel.
The virus is usually found in central and west Africa and does not spread easily to people. The risk to the public is said to be low and it usually causes only mild illness in people.
Speaking at Sunday's opening of the World Health Assembly, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, Director General of the WHO: "Of course the [Covid] pandemic is not the only crisis in our world.
"As we speak our colleagues around the world are responding to outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, monkeypox and hepatitis of unknown cause and complex humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and Yemen.
"We face a formidable convergence of disease, drought, famine and war, fuelled by climate change, inequity and geopolitical rivalry," the WHO head added, the BBC reports.
On Sunday, Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warned that monkeypox is spreading through community transmission. Her comments came as Government guidance said contacts of monkeypox cases at high risk of having caught the infection should self-isolate for 21 days.
Dr Hopkins told BBC One's Sunday Morning that updated figures for the weekend will be given on Monday as she warned of more cases “on a daily basis”.
The disease, first found in monkeys, can be transmitted from person to person through close physical contact, including sexual intercourse, and is caused by the monkeypox virus.
US president Joe Biden said that recent cases of monkeypox which have been identified in Europe and the United States are something “to be concerned about”.
In his first public comments on the disease, Mr Biden added: “It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential.”
The disease, which was first discovered in monkeys, is usually mild but can cause severe illness in some cases. Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
A rash can develop, often beginning on the face, which then spreads to other parts of the body including the genitals. The rash can look like chickenpox or syphilis, and scabs can form which then fall off.
The incubation period of monkeypox is usually from six to 13 days but can range from five to 21 days. The cases in the UK are not all one cluster, with separate cases springing up that are unconnected.
