The cases of monkeypox could accelerate in Europe, said Friday a regional head of the World Health Organization (WHO), while at least eight European countries have reported patients, including 20 in the UK.
“As we enter the summer season (…) with gatherings, festivals and parties, I fear that transmission will accelerate,” said the WHO’s director for Europe, Hans Kluge.
Cases of this virus endemic to West Africa have been recorded in several Western countries since early May, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Portugal, France and Sweden.
The extent of transmission is “atypical,” said Hans Kluge, stressing that “all but one of the recent cases had not traveled to areas where monkeypox is endemic.”
Most of the cases have been among men who have sex with men, said Hans Kluge, the WHO has already indicated that it wants to shed light on the transmission of the virus within the homosexual community.
On Friday, the United Kingdom announced that it had recorded 11 new cases of the virus, bringing the number of infected people in the country to 20.
France, Belgium and Germany have also reported their first cases. According to Susan Hopkins, medical director of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), “this increase is expected to continue over the next few days.”
She urged gay and lesbian people to be on the lookout for any symptoms.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue.
Rashes may appear, often on the face, and spread to other parts of the body including the genitals, before going through various stages, such as scabbing and peeling.
There is no treatment for monkeypox, which is transmitted by contact with an infected person or their body fluids, including saliva.
This viral infection is self-limiting. According to the UKHSA, the virus is “not easily” transmitted between people and the risk to people in the UK is “low.”
Sajid Javid, the British health minister, said Friday that “most cases (in the UK) are mild. And “I can confirm that we have made more doses of effective monkeypox vaccine available,” he added. With the exception of the first case – the infected person had recently traveled to Nigeria, in West Africa where the viral disease is endemic – the patients were infected in the country.
Morocco has not recorded any cases of the newly emerging monkeypox virus, but airports, ports, and border crossing points have been put on alert, as cases neighboring Spain reach seven confirmed and 22 suspected, while France reported its first cases this week.
Health monitoring services, affiliated with the Ministry of Health are conducting periodic early detection operations of any incoming cases to limit the spread of the virus in the country, sources from the Health Ministry told Hespress.
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