No need to worry about monkeypox, says Pfizer CEO – just days after Biden said 'everyone' should be concerned before walking back his comments

• Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla, downplayed concerns over monkeypox in a CNBC interview at Davos.
• "With everything I know, I wouldn't worry much," he commented.

Pfizer's CEO said he "wouldn't worry much" about the spread of monkeypox during an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Albert Bourla's comments come just days after President Joe Biden said that detecting the disease in the US is "something that everybody should be concerned about."

Biden said on Monday that the disease was not as serious as COVID-19 but added: "I think people should be careful."

There has been increasing concern about the spread of monkeypox in Europe in recent weeks. The rare disease is usually spread by wild animals in central or West Africa but has suddenly started appearing in more countries.

The UK has reported 71 cases of monkeypox as of Wednesday. The first US case was identified in Massachusetts on May 18, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor a further 200 people for the disease.

Bourla said: "I don't have all the information ahead of me. With everything I know, I wouldn't worry much."

Although the virus "clearly doesn't transmit as much as other viruses including COVID," he said: "That doesn't mean that we should relax. I think we should monitor where the situation goes."

Bourla also told Sky News that monkeypox was "not that transmissible", meaning it was "very difficult to become a pandemic. There are already medicines and vaccines that can work."

Moderna has said it was testing potential vaccines for monkeypox in pre-clinical trials.