Monkeypox Virus Outbreaks Are Containable, WHO said available details indicated that human-to-human transmission was occurring among people who had close physical contact with symptomatic cases. The patient’s symptoms were similar to those observed in smallpox patients in the past but were less clinically severe.
These confirmed and suspected cases are mainly from the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal, with the rest in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States.
The incubation period for monkeypox is usually 6 to 13 days, but it can be between 5 and 21 days.
However, Nick Finn, deputy director of England’s National Infectious Service, stressed that monkeypox does not spread easily from person to person and that the overall risk to the public is low.
An expert from China’s disease control system also told Caijing·Great Health that the spread of monkeypox between people can be said to be very limited, mainly through secretions and other transmissions, and the risk of causing an epidemic is very limited.
How serious is a monkeypox infection?
Before the current outbreak, monkeypox cases scattered in the tropical rainforests of central and western Africa.
Monkeypox Virus VTM Kits
There are two distinct clades of monkeypox viruses, the Congo Basin clade and the West African clade. Monkeypox, caused by the Congo Basin clade virus, has reported a mortality rate of up to 10.6%; while the West African clade virus, which usually causes less severe disease, has a case fatality rate of 3.6%.
In this outbreak, all cases with samples confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing were determined to be infected with the West African branch, meaning relatively low mortality.
The genome sequence of a swab sample from a confirmed case in Portugal showed that the monkeypox virus responsible for the current outbreak closely matched cases exported from Nigeria to the UK, Israel and Singapore in 2018 and 2019.
Initial symptoms of monkeypox infection include fever, headache, swelling, back pain, muscle aches and general weakness. Infected individuals initially have generalized erythema or rash, which then develops into papules on the trunk, face, palms, and soles, which then develop into cysts, which form pus scars and scabs. Sometimes a bit like chickenpox, the infection lasts 14 to 21 days and usually goes away on its own.
The virus can enter the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract, or through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Evidence suggests that the highest risk of infection is in people who have had close physical contact with a symptomatic monkeypox patient.
Of the first nine cases of monkeypox confirmed in the UK, six had had sex with men.
To date, severe cases are more common in children and immunocompromised people, especially those with HIV, and are related to the degree of exposure to the virus, the patient’s health status, and the severity of complications.
Hans Kruger, WHO Regional Director for Europe, also said: “Monkeypox is usually a self-limiting disease and most infected people recover within a few weeks without treatment.
How to get out of Africa and into Europe?
Confusingly, monkeypox occurs primarily in the rainforest regions of central and western Africa. For example, the US recorded two cases of monkeypox in 2021 and the UK reported seven cases, all imported to and from Nigeria. travel history.
However, in this outbreak, it is unusual for confirmed and suspected cases reported in several countries without any travel history to monkeypox-endemic areas.
Australia, Canada and the United States are also among the non-endemic countries reporting monkeypox cases. Health authorities in New York City, home of the United Nations, are also investigating a possible case. A patient at a hospital tested positive on May 19, local time.
These cases are atypical, Hans Krueger said. All but one were not related to travel to monkeypox-endemic countries.
WHO believes that there is an urgent need to raise awareness of monkeypox and implement comprehensive measures to detect and isolate cases, trace contacts, and provide supportive care to limit further spread.
How to stop the spread.
“China has not reported any cases of monkeypox, nor has the virus been found in animal hosts. The current focus is on preventing imported cases,” Tan Wenjie, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Institute for Viral Disease Prevention and Control, said in an interview with the media. (Transport medium )
According to the above-mentioned experts of China’s CDC, at present, the measures to prevent the importation of the monkeypox virus are very strict. Import squirrels, rabbits and other rodents. The possibility of monkeypox being introduced by animals brought by inbound passengers is unlikely and the public need not worry.
Specifically, researchers don’t yet know the animal reservoir of the monkeypox virus.
Since 1970, the monkeypox virus has had sporadic outbreaks in 10 African countries. This is a DNA virus in the genus Orthopoxvirus of the Poxviridae family. In 1958, a group of captive monkeys transported from Africa to Copenhagen, Denmark for scientific research developed the vesicular disease. European scientists isolated the monkeypox virus from monkeys in the laboratory, hence the name “monkeypox virus”.
In 2017, Nigeria experienced its largest outbreak on record. At that time, there were 172 suspected cases, and 75% of the patients were men, aged 21-40. Since then, Nigeria has continued to report monkeypox cases.
Of these, 241 were confirmed cases, including 8 deaths (case fatality rate 3.3%). From 1 January to 30 April 2022, 46 suspected cases were reported and no deaths were recorded.
In 2003, there was an outbreak in the United States, the first time the disease had emerged outside of Africa. The patient was infected due to close contact with marmots. Marmots were infected by various small mammals imported into the United States. There were 81 cases at the time, but there were no deaths.
The cases of monkeypox infection have emerged in multiple countries, and researchers suspect that transmission may have continued for some time because all but one of these cases were not related to travel to monkeypox-endemic countries and were geographically dispersed in Europe and elsewhere.
Matthew Kavanagh, acting deputy executive director of WHO’s AIDS agency, stressed on May 22 that leaders urgently need to strengthen their pandemic preparedness. Including building stronger community-led capacity and human rights infrastructure to Support an effective and de-stigmatizing response to the outbreak.
The above-mentioned experts in the disease control system explained to Caijing.
However, the “early detection” of the monkeypox virus is difficult. The above-mentioned experts in the disease control system said that it takes a certain period of time for monkeypox infection to have clinical symptoms and thus be discovered, which is different from the emergence of viral symptoms in respiratory infections.
