World Health Organization To Hold Emergency Meeting As Monkeypox Cases Soar

Monkeypox new disease dangerous over the world. Selective focus. Added grain

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The World Health Organization announced it will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the recent surge in cases of monkeypox. There have been over 6,000 reported cases of the virus in 58 countries.

A WHO committee will convene no later than July 18th to discuss whether the monkeypox outbreak should be declared a global health emergency.

"I continue to be concerned by the scale and spread of the virus across the world," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

When committee members last met on June 27th, they decided against declaring a global health emergency due to the outbreak.

While 80% of the cases have been reported in Europe, there has been a growing number in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been nearly 560 cases reported in the U.S. 

California has the most cases in the nation with 111, followed by New York with 96, and Florida with 64.

To help get a handle on the growing outbreak, the CDC recently announced that Labcorp will be the first national laboratory to offer a PCR test for monkeypox.

"Labcorp appreciates the opportunity to support the CDC in its efforts to keep the public safe and manage the monkeypox outbreak," said Dr. Brian Caveney, chief medical officer and President of Labcorp Diagnostics. "We will initially perform all monkeypox testing in our main North Carolina lab and have the capacity to expand to other locations nationwide should the need arise."


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