The World Health Organization said Friday that European summer festivals should not be cancelled because of the monkeypox epidemic, but should manage the risk of spreading the virus.
A wave of cases of monkeypox has been detected since May outside West and Central African countries, where the disease has long been endemic. The majority of the new cases have been detected in Western Europe.
More than 3,200 confirmed cases and one death have now been reported to WHO from 48 countries in total this year.
Short distances but we do not recommend cancellations
"We have all the summer festivals, concerts and many other events just starting in the northern hemisphere." said Amaia Artazcoz, WHO's technical officer for mass gatherings, in a webinar titled Monkeypox Epidemic and Mass Gatherings: Protecting Yourself at Festivals and Parties.
The events "can represent a favorable environment for transmission," she said.
"These gatherings have very close proximity and usually for a prolonged period of time, as well as many frequent interactions between people," Artazcoz explained.
"However, we do not recommend postponing or cancelling any of the events in the areas where monkeypox cases have been identified."
Sarah Tyler, senior communications adviser for emergencies at the WHO in Europe, said there would be more than 800 festivals in the region, bringing together hundreds of thousands of people from different countries.
The risk to young people and their sexual lives
"Most participants are very mobile and sexually active and many of them will have close contacts at these events," he said."
"Some may also have multiple sexual contacts, including new or anonymous partners. Without action, we risk seeing an increase in monkeypox cases[/B] in Europe this summer."
What WHO recommends to countries
The UN health agency recommends that countries identify events most likely to be associated with the risk of monkeypox transmission.
WHO urged the organisers of the festival to raise awareness through effective communication, detect cases early, stop transmission and protect people at risk.
The outbreak in recently affected countries is mostly among men who have sex with men and who have reported recent sex with new or multiple partners, according to the WHO.
People with symptoms are advised to avoid attending gatherings, and people in communities among whom monkeypox has been found to occur more frequently than in the general population should be especially cautious, it says.
Normal initial symptoms of monkeypox include high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a chickenpox-like rash.
Meg Doherty, from the global HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections programmes at the WHO, said: "We don't call it a sexually transmitted infection. Stigmatisation never helps an outbreak of disease," she added."
"This is not a gay disease. However, we want people to know what the risks are.
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