There are now close to 600 confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox around the world, most cases being in Europe where it is believed to be where the virus originated.
On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that they do not see monkeypox becoming the next global pandemic and that the virus only posed a “moderate threat” to global health.
The WHO is considering designating the monkeypox outbreak as a “potential public health emergency of international concern.”
A spokesperson for the WHO noted that such a declaration is only meant to help accelerate research and funding to learn more about the virus.
Dr. Rosamund Lewis, the WHO’s technical lead on monkeypox said, “At the moment, we are not concerned about a global pandemic,” noting, “Collectively, the world has an opportunity to stop this outbreak. There’s a window of opportunity where this can be contained.”
It has been determined by the WHO that transmission is caused through close contact with the infected and many cases are still prevalent in young, homosexual men. There is still a question mark around whether asymptomatic people can infect others.
“We really don’t actually yet know whether there’s an asymptomatic transmission of monkeypox,” said Lewis. “The indications in the past have been that this is not a major feature, but this remains to be determined.”
Natural News reported:
As of May 31, there is a total of 584 confirmed cases in 26 countries, with several hundred more suspected cases being monitored by national public health agencies.
Western Europe remains the epicenter of the outbreak, having 70 percent of all cases. The United Kingdom leads the pack with 190 confirmed cases, followed by Spain and Portugal with 132 cases each.
The United States has 16 recorded cases in nine states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New York City alone has four cases. California and Florida have three confirmed cases each. Two cases have been spotted in Utah and Colorado and one each in Washington, Virginia, Massachusetts and Georgia.
As with Europe, most of the cases that have been found in the United States are among homosexual males, often traced back to international travel to areas that have had outbreaks.
The United Kingdom is reversing back to something similar to the covid restrictions and are urging confirmed cases to isolate at home for at least 21 days and not leave their homes for anything other than the hospital. Those who have confirmed monkeypox are also being told to abstain from sexual intercourse.
“Cases should also abstain from sex while symptomatic, including the period of early symptom onset, and while lesions are present,” reads the country’s guidelines for the ongoing outbreak. “Whilst there is currently no available evidence of monkeypox in genital excretions, as a precaution, cases are advised to use condoms for eight weeks after infection and this guidance will be updated as evidence emerges.”
Health officials in the U.S are worried there may be a rise in cases during LGBT Pride parades, after the initial outbreak came from the Gay Pride Maspalomas festival which was held in the Spanish Canary Islands and later in Antwerp, Belgium.
