Outbreaks of diseases such as monkeypox becoming more frequent, warns WHO

LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) – Outbreaks of endemic diseases such as monkeypox and lassa fever are becoming more persistent and frequent, the World Health Organization’s emergencies director, Mike Ryan, warned on Wednesday.

A logo is pictured on the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

As the climate change contributes to rapidly changing weather conditions like drought, animals and human are changing their food-seeking behaviour. As a result, diseases that typically circulate in animals are increasingly jumping into humans, he said.

“Unfortunately, that ability to amplify that disease and move it on within our communities is increasing – so both disease emergence and disease amplification factors have increased.”

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Reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Twitter @NatalieGrover; Editing by Catherine Evans

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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