The WHO official added that Europe is currently at the “epicentre of the largest and most geographically widespread monkeypox outbreak ever reported” outside west and central Africa, where the disease is endemic. The WHO has so far maintained that the world has “an opportunity to stop this outbreak”. “But – and this is important – we do not yet know if we will be able to contain its spread completely,” Dr Kluge warned. In a statement on Tuesday, Dr Hans Kluge, head of the WHO’s Europe office, said that although the monkeypox response should not mimic the scale of Covid-style restrictions, health authorities do need to take “significant and urgent” action to mitigate the threat. Monkeypox may not be containable, the World Health Organization has admitted, as it urged people to “reduce the number of sexual partners” to help curb the outbreak.