Monkeypox hits Europe, Americas hardest: WHO - China.org.cn

Europe and the Americas have been affected the most by the monkeypox outbreak, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists on Wednesday.

These two regions have reported 95 percent of the diagnosed cases, he said, warning against stigma and discrimination in monkeypox messaging.

Over 18,000 monkeypox cases have been reported to the WHO from 78 countries. More than 70 percent of these came from the European region and 25 percent from the Americas, he said.

He said that 98 percent of the reported cases have been among men who have sex with men, stressing that stigma and discrimination can be "as dangerous as any virus and can fuel the outbreak."

"As we have seen with COVID-19 misinformation," it can spread rapidly online, he said, "so we call on social media platforms, tech companies and news organizations to work with us to prevent and counter harmful information."