An emergency committee of the World Health Organization has met to discuss whether the current outbreak of monkeypox constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern."

Experts from around the world gathered on Thursday to examine the latest information on the disease.

The WHO said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will study the results of the discussions and decide within a few days whether to declare the outbreak an emergency.

The WHO chief decided against such a declaration last month based on the committee's advice.

But the committee noted at the time that many aspects of the outbreak are "unusual," such as the occurrence of cases in countries where circulation of the monkeypox virus had not been previously documented.

The committee advised that the outbreak should be closely monitored and reviewed after a few weeks to determine if the advice should be reconsidered.

Tedros told reporters on Wednesday that close to 14,000 monkeypox cases have been confirmed in more than 70 countries and territories so far this year.

The WHO currently lists outbreaks of polio and COVID-19 as emergencies.