The World Health Organization has received reports of 257 confirmed monkeypox cases and about 120 suspected cases in 23 nations where the virus is not endemic as of Thursday, it said in a Sunday update.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 12 cases in eight states as of Friday afternoon.
In five African countries where monkeypox is commonly found, the WHO said it has received reports of 1,365 cases and 69 deaths due to the virus. These illnesses were reported in various periods ranging from mid-December to late May.
No deaths have been reported in nonendemic countries.
The agency said the global public health risk level is moderate, "considering this is the first time that monkeypox cases and clusters are reported concurrently in widely disparate WHO geographical areas, and without known epidemiological links to non-endemic countries in West or Central Africa."
The WHO also said in its update: "The public health risk could become high if this virus exploits the opportunity to establish itself as a human pathogen and spreads to groups at higher risk of severe disease such as young children and immunosuppressed persons."
