More than 100 cases of monkeypox, a viral virus more frequent in west and central Africa, have been confirmed in Europe, with German officials calling it the region’s greatest outbreak ever.
In nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, France, the United States, and Australia, cases have now been confirmed.
The disease, which was first discovered in monkeys, spreads by intimate contact and has only rarely travelled outside of Africa, so this cluster of cases has caused concern.
However, because the virus does not spread as easily as SARS-COV-2, scientists do not expect the outbreak to turn into a pandemic like COVID-19.
Monkeypox is often a minor viral infection characterised by fever and a unique bumpy rash.
“With numerous confirmed cases in the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal, this is the greatest and most extensive outbreak of monkeypox ever seen in Europe,” Germany’s armed forces medical staff said on Friday, after the country’s first case was discovered.
The outbreak was described as an epidemic by Fabian Leendertz of the Robert Koch Institute.
“However, this outbreak is unlikely to endure for long.” “Contact tracing can help isolate the instances, and there are also medications and vaccines that can be administered if necessary,” he said.
Although there is no specific vaccine for monkeypox, data suggests that vaccines used to eradicate smallpox are up to 85% effective against monkeypox, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
On Thursday, British officials announced that some healthcare professionals and others who may have been exposed to monkeypox had been offered a smallpox vaccine.
UNIQUE CASES
Monkeypox incidences have been documented in 11 African countries since 1970. Nigeria has been experiencing a significant outbreak since 2017; according to the WHO, there have been 46 suspected cases this year, with 15 confirmed.
On May 7, the first European case was verified in a person who had returned to England from Nigeria.
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According to a tracker maintained by a University of Oxford scholar, more than 100 cases have been confirmed outside of Africa since then.
Many of the instances are unrelated to trips to Africa. As a result, the cause of this outbreak remains unknown, while health officials have stated that there may be some community spread.
The UK Health Security Agency stated the recent instances in the country were largely among men who self-identified as gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men, where 20 cases have already been confirmed.
Males who self-identify as gay, bisexual, or having sex with men are among the 14 cases in Portugal discovered in sexual health clinics.
It’s too soon to tell if the condition has developed into a sexually transmitted disease, according to Alessio D’Amato, the state’s health commissioner.
By definition, sexual contact involves close touch, according to Stuart Neil, professor of virology at Kings College London.
“I think the concept that there’s some sort of sexual transmission in this is a stretch,” he said.
According to the WHO, scientists are sequencing the virus from different cases to discover if they are linked. An update from the agency is expected soon.
