Norway, Austria Announce 1st Monkeypox Case

Austria and Norway announced on Tuesday the first Monkeypox case for each of them, international media agencies reported.

The Austrian authorities revealed that the infected person is 38 years old, and they are investigating the reason for his infection and whether he was overseas or not.

Regarding the detected infection in Norway, there are no details about the reported case.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the monkeypox virus was detected in more than 20 countries, with over 200 confirmed cases.

However, Sylvia Briand, WHO Director for Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness, said on Friday that there is no need for mass vaccination currently against the lately emerged Monkeypox.

She asserted that countries should take immediate actions to control the spread of the virus, and share the data about their available vaccines.

“We think that if we put in place the right measures now we probably can contain this easily,” Briand told the agency’s annual assembly.

In the same context, the senior WHO official revealed that the Monkeypox is a mild viral infection in several countries in West Africa.

However, it spreads to several non-epidemic countries in Europe, US, and Canada.

“For us, we think that the key priority currently is trying to contain this transmission in non-endemic countries,” Briand explained.

She also asserted that countries should apply isolation and early detection for the cases who were in contact with infected persons, in addition, she urged countries to share their information about the available smallpox vaccines and treatments.

“We don’t know exactly the number of doses available in the world and so that’s why we encourage countries to come to WHO and tell us what are their stockpiles.”