MONDAY, May 23, 2022 (HealthDay News) – An alarming international outbreak of monkeypox, a less harmful cousin of the smallpox virus, has already reached the United States and Canada. As of Saturday, 92 confirmed cases of the disease and another 28 suspected cases in 12 countries have been reported, according to the World Health Organization.
Between 1 and 5 confirmed cases are currently being investigated in the United States, the WHO said.
Monkeypox was first spotted in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and other parts of Europe in early May. On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitored six people in the United States for a possible infection. They were sitting near an infected passenger on a flight from Nigeria to the United Kingdom in early May.
CDC officials are also investigating a confirmed case of monkeypox in a man from Massachusetts who recently traveled to Canada, according to CNN. The New York Health Department is investigating a possible infection in a patient at Bellevue Hospital there.
Despite all these recent infections in areas where the virus is uncommon, and emerging fears that the disease could be spread through sexual contact, health experts warn against overreacting. Unlike emerging diseases such as COVID-19, monkeypox is well understood and has effective treatments.
“No one should panic,” said Anne Remoin, chair of infectious diseases and public health at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Monkeypox is a known virus that is being introduced into a new population.”
The disease begins with fever, swollen lymph nodes and other flu-like symptoms, followed by a telltale rash on the face that spreads to other areas, including the genitals, arms and legs.
Possibility of sexual transmission
The symptoms are similar to those of smallpox, but milder, Rimoin said.
“It can take several weeks and people can feel pretty bad,” she said. However, there are effective treatments.
Monkeypox is spread mainly from animals to humans – and less often from humans to humans because close contact with body fluids is needed, added Hannah Newman, director of epidemiology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
“Anyone who has an unusual rash or lesion and who has risk factors [or had sexual encounters with someone who has] they need to seek help immediately, “she said.
Many of the more recent cases worldwide have occurred among gay and bisexual men.
On Monday, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, a senior health official in the Spanish capital, Madrid, said the city had registered 30 confirmed cases of monkeypox so far. He said authorities were investigating potential links between a recent gay pride event in the Canary Islands, which attracted about 80,000 people, and cases at a sauna in Madrid.
According to Newman, “there seems to be a component of sexual transmission in the current epidemic that we have not seen in previous outbreaks.” Gay or bisexual men may be at particular risk during the current epidemic, she said.
However, “I have a feeling that this is a virus that we understand, we have vaccines against it, we have treatments against it and it spreads much differently than SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19)”, Ashish Ja, Covid-19’s response coordinator at the White House, told ABC News on Sunday.
“It’s not as contagious as Covid. So I’m sure we can keep our hands around him, “Ja said. “But we will follow it very closely and use the tools we have to make sure we can continue to prevent further spread and care for people who become infected.”
New questions
Risk factors for past outbreaks include contact with live or dead animals and consumption of wild game or wildlife meat, Newman said.
Once the virus has spread from animal to human, human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with respiratory droplets, body fluids, or skin lesions.
In Africa, 1% to 15% of people with monkeypox will die from the virus. “Severe illness and [death] is higher among children, young adults and immunocompromised people, “Newman said.
The virus was first discovered in 1958, when two outbreaks of monkeypox-like disease were observed. The first known human case occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970 and has since been reported in humans in other Central and West African countries, according to the CDC.
Although not naturally occurring in the United States, this is not the first time monkeypox has been observed in the nation. The 2003 outbreak involved infected prairie dogs imported as pets.
Many questions remain about the new outbreak.
“We need to monitor it and understand how it behaves and how it is introduced into the new population,” Rimoin said.
The outbreak appears to be linked to the West African strain of monkeypox, which Remoin said was less portable and tended to cause milder symptoms than the Central African strain.
“Once these details become available, we will know much more,” she said.
The outbreak is not entirely surprising, she added. In recent years, there have been cases of a smallpox virus once eradicated.
“It’s not surprising that we’re seeing other poxviruses appear around the world as a result,” Rimoin said.
The vaccines are already here
Fortunately, the smallpox vaccine can protect people against monkeypox.
In fact, the US government has already ordered the vaccine for $ 119 million with an option for more. The British health authorities are offering smallpox vaccines to some health workers and others who may have been exposed to monkeypox.
The good news is that outbreaks of monkeypox are rare and usually short-lived, Newman said.
The outbreak in the United States in 2003, for example, was quickly tackled through extensive testing, vaccine implementation and smallpox treatments and guidelines for patients, health care providers, veterinarians and others working with animals.
“All 47 people have recovered and none of the 47 cases have spread to another person,” she said.
Cases of monkeypox have previously been reported only among people with ties to Central and West Africa, according to the Associated Press. But last week, the United States was among seven countries reporting infections, mostly among young men who had not previously traveled to Africa.
France, Germany, Belgium and Australia confirmed their first cases on Friday, the AP reported.
“I’m amazed by this. I wake up every day and there are more infected countries,” said virologist Oueale Tomori, who is on several advisory boards of the World Health Organization.
“This is not the kind of proliferation we’ve seen in West Africa, so there may be something new happening in the West,” he told the AP.
More information
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more information on monkeypox.
SOURCES: Hannah Newman, MPH, Director, Infection Prevention, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York; Anne Rimoin, PhD, MPH, Professor, Epidemiology and Director, Center for Global and Immigrant Health, University of California, Los Angeles; Associated Press, May 20, 2022; CNN, May 20, 2022
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