WHO: Outbreaks of Diseases Such As Monkeypox Becoming More Frequent
Desk Report
Published: 02 Jun 2022, 01:07 pm
This handout photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was taken during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 1997 || AFP Photo: Collected
Outbreaks of endemic diseases such as monkeypox and lassa fever are becoming more persistent and frequent, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergencies Director Mike Ryan warned on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
As climate change contributes to rapidly changing weather conditions like drought, animals and humans are changing their food-seeking behaviour. As a result, diseases that typically circulate in animals are increasingly jumping into humans, he said.
"Unfortunately, that ability to amplify that disease and move it on within our communities is increasing - so both disease emergence and disease amplification factors have increased."