Monkeypox has become a public health emergency in the US. According to experts, the declaration could mean a turning point in efforts to contain the pathogen.

“The window contains monkeypox it closes quickly, but I think it’s possible to contain the outbreak,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of Georgetown University’s institute of national and global health law.

In the US, the declaration would allow more federal funds for health agencies and can speed up development of therapy and diagnostics for monkeypox.

The country with the most monkeypox cases

The move was taken at a time when the United States was clear leader in the number of confirmed cases of people infected with the virus.

They have registered 5 thousand 825 cases monkeypox in the US between January and August this year. That number is equivalent more than one fifth (25 thousand 54) of confirmed infections worldwide in that time period, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Behind the US come four countries from another region most affected by the outbreak: Europe. Spanish It has reported 4,577 cases and is the only country on the continent with a confirmed death from the disease. According to the Ministry of Health, his death was those of two young men.

great Britainwith 2 thousand 759 cases; Germanwith 2 thousand 724, and France with 2,054, they complete the list of the five most affected countries. Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer at WHO Europe, said: about 8 percent monkeypox cases in Europe require hospitalization.