The World Health Organization (WHO) has called an urgent meeting on monkey pox virus spreading in Europe — reports Reuters agency. As the WHO warns, in the coming summer season, due to mass events and festivals, monkey pox may increase.
After over 100 confirmed or suspected cases of monkey pox have been reported in Europe, WHO has convened an urgent emergency meeting on the spread of the virus on Friday — reports Reuters agency.
In the past few days, cases of monkey pox have been diagnosed in at least eight European countries — Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK, as well as the USA, Canada and Australia.
World Health Organization Europe Director Hans Kluge warned on Friday that the spread of monkey pox in Europe could accelerate with summer events and festivals. As Kluge pointed out in a press release published on the WHO website, “currently detected cases involve people engaging in sexual activity” and the symptoms of monkey pox are “unknown to many people”.
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See also: Monkey pox in Europe. Spain is raising the alarm. Are we at risk of another epidemic?
Symptoms of monkey pox
Monkey pox is a rare zoonotic viral disease that usually occurs in West and Central Africa. Symptoms include fever, headache, and a skin rash that begins on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. Symptoms usually disappear after two or three weeks — informs the WHO.
The virus does not spread easily between people, a infection most often occurs through close contact with the body fluids of an infected person, including through sexual intercourse.
See also: Monkey pox and chicken pox and smallpox. What are the Similarities? [WE EXPLAIN]
Unusual cases
Recent cases of infection are unusual in several respects — writes Kluge. First, they occur in people who have not traveled to African countries before, where monkey pox is an endemic disease. Second, most infections were found among men who had sex with other men. Thirdly, the recent emergence of infections in various countries suggests that the virus has been spreading around the world for some time — the director of the European branch of WHO enumerated.