FILE PHOTO: Maria Van Kerkhove, Head a.i. Emerging Diseases and Zoonosis at the World Health Organization (WHO), looks on during a news conference after a meeting of the Emergency Committee on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Geneva, Switzerland January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
The World Health Organization does not have evidence that the monkeypox virus has mutated, a senior executive at the U.N. agency said on Monday, noting the infectious disease that has been endemic in west and central Africa has tended not to change.
Rosamund Lewis, head of the smallpox secretariat which is part of the WHO Emergencies Programme, told a briefing that mutations tended to be typically lower with this virus, although genome sequencing of cases will help inform understanding of the current outbreak.
Over 100 suspected and confirmed cases in a recent outbreak in Europe and North America have not been severe, said Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO's emerging diseases and zoonoses lead and technical lead on COVID-19.
"This is a containable situation," particularly in Europe, she said. "But we can't take our eye off the ball with what's happening in Africa, in countries where it's endemic."
The outbreaks are atypical, according to the WHO, occurring in countries where the virus does not regularly circulate. Scientists are seeking to understand the origin of the cases and whether anything about the virus has changed.
The WHO is asking dermatology and primary healthcare clinics, to be alert to potential cases.
