Geneva, 23 July 2022 (dpa/MIA) — The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries an "emergency of international concern." "Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Declaring an emergency is the WHO's highest alert level for health threats, but it has no immediate consequences. It is meant to alert governments to take action to protect their populations. The WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak as such an emergency in 2020. However, while the coronavirus spreads in the air through aerosols containing virus particles emitted through breathing, talking or coughing, monkeypox infections usually occur through close physical contact. In addition to touching an infected person through bare skin, monkeypox can also be spread through breathing in virus particles; touching an infected object that has been touched by an infectious person; or consuming something an infectious person has touched. Governments are advised to raise awareness among doctors and hospitals, take protective measures in suspected cases and educate members of the population on how to protect themselves from infection. Tedros said there had been more than 16,000 confirmed cases in more than 60 countries, many of which had previously known virtually no monkeypox cases. In six African countries, where the virus has also infected humans before, there were more than 240 cases. In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute reported almost 2,300 cases on Friday. A committee of independent experts had previously failed to agree on a joint recommendation on whether an emergency should be declared.