Monkeypox outbreaks outside endemic regions: scientific and social priorities

Abstract

As the world recovers from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and reflects on lessons learnt from failure of global public health systems to contain the global outbreak of SARS-CoV-2,1 new infectious disease threats, caused by movement of people globally, remain omnipresent, and repeated calls2 for more proactive action go unheeded. This is aptly shown by the unprecedented and unexpected outbreaks of human monkeypox cases and clusters since May 7, 2022, across Europe, the Americas, and Australia,3 which yet again, have taken global public authorities by surprise.