Monkeypox cases rise 77% in UN agency’s latest weekly count

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization is reporting a 77% weekly increase in the number of lab-confirmed monkeypox cases, to more than 6,000 worldwide. Most of the cases were reported in Europe and Africa. The U.N. health agency said Thursday that the mysterious outbreak continues to mainly affect men who have had sex with men, and that other population groups showed no signs of sustained transmission. WHO said it counted 6,027 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox from 59 countries as of Monday. It said three people have died in connection with the outbreak, all of them in Africa. The health agency’s director said he’s “concerned by the scale and spread of the virus.”