The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a possible further spread of monkeypox at festivals and big events planned for this summer in Europe.
"The potential for further transmission in Europe and elsewhere over the summer is high," WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri Kluge said in a statement.
However, Kluge said, festivals and celebrations planned for the coming months also offered an opportunity "to raise awareness and strengthen individual and community protection" among the young, the sexually active and the globally mobile.
According to Kluge, investigations into the cases so far suggest that the outbreak in Europe dates from mid-April. It is the largest and most geographically widespread ever reported outside West and Central Africa, areas where monkeypox is endemic.
Kluge said rapid monkeypox transmission was assisted by the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in most of Europe in recent months. Although many cases so far have been linked to sexual activity, Kluge said, he stressed that the virus could affect anyone.
As the virus didn't spread through the same pathways as Covid-19, there was no need for the sweeping public health measures imposed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Kluge said.
"But - and this is important - we do not yet know if we will be able to contain its spread completely," he added.
