A huge monkeypox outbreak has expanded to at least 20 nations, prompting some notable infectious disease experts to call for speedier action from global health authorities to contain it.

They argue that governments and the World Health Organization should not repeat the COVID-19 pandemic’s early blunders, which delayed case detection and allowed the virus to spread.

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While monkeypox is not as contagious or dangerous as COVID, these researchers believe that clearer information on how to isolate a person infected with monkeypox, more explicit advice on how to safeguard those who are at risk, and enhanced testing and contact tracing are all needed.

“We will have another awful disease and many tough decisions to make if this becomes endemic (in other countries),” said Isabelle Eckerle, a professor at the Geneva Centre for Emerging Viral Diseases in Switzerland.

According to Reuters, the WHO is evaluating whether the epidemic could be classified as a possible public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). A declaration by the WHO that an outbreak is a global health emergency, like it was with COVID or Ebola, would assist speed up research and financing for disease containment.

On the fringes of the WHO’s annual meeting in Geneva, Mike Ryan, director of the agency’s health crises programme, said, “It is always under discussion, but no emergency committee as yet (on monkeypox).”

Experts say the WHO is unlikely to reach such a determination anytime soon because monkeypox is a known threat that the world has instruments to combat. WHO officials indicated that debating whether to form an emergency committee, the group that advises declaring a PHEIC, is part of the agency’s usual reaction.

Even without an emergency declaration, Eckerle wants the WHO to encourage countries to implement more coordinated and strict isolation measures. She is concerned that claims that the virus is mild, as well as the availability of vaccines and treatments in some countries, “may lead to lax public health behaviour.”