The World Health Organization today called for “urgent action” to prevent an outbreak of monkeypox in Europe as the number of infected people on the continent has tripled from two weeks ago.

The organization’s regional director, Hans Kluge, urged European countries to “strengthen their efforts in the coming weeks and months to prevent monkeypox from becoming endemic in a larger geographical area.”

In a statement, he said “immediate and coordinated action is needed if we want to make a racial difference against the outbreak.”

And the organization’s data showed that there were more than 4,500 confirmed injuries in Europe, three times more than those recorded in mid -June, representing ninety percent of injuries recorded worldwide since mid -June. May, when the disease is limited. in ten African countries began to spread to Europe.

Europe has been the center of the spread of monkeypox, including 31 countries or regions where cases of this disease have been reported.

The organization’s experts indicated last Saturday that the rise in cases had become a major health threat but had not yet reached the level of a global health emergency, but the organization’s Europe chapter noted that “the rapid development and the urgency of this event means that the Committee (Experts) will soon reconsider their position. ”