Belgium has become the first country to implement a mandatory 21-day quarantine against monkeypox, with 14 countries confirming outbreaks of the virus and doctors warning of a “significant rise” in UK cases, the Daily Mail reports.
According to the newspaper, the Belgian health authorities said that those who contracted the virus will now have to isolate themselves for three weeks, after three cases were recorded in the country..
On the other hand, the heads of the World Health Organization held (WHO) Emergency meeting to discuss monkeypox threat, as the Netherlands becomes 12th country to announce cases, although none of its patients have been definitively diagnosed.
Hans Kluge, the European director of the World Health Organization, admitted that he was concerned that the spread of monkeypox would increase during the summer months, and also warned that transmission of the infection was likely to be “ongoing for some time”.
Dr. Hans Kluge emphasized that, as we enter the summer season in the European region, with mass gatherings, festivals and parties, I am concerned that transmission could increase, explaining that the cases currently detected are among those who engage in sexual activity, and symptoms are uncommon. to many.
He stressed that the incubation period for monkeypox extends to 21 days, which means that the onset of symptoms may take three weeks. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and fatigue. The rash can develop, often starting on the face, and then spreading after It spreads to other parts of the body, including the genitals. The rash can look like chickenpox or syphilis, and crusts can form that fall off afterwards..
It comes as it was revealed today that the heads of the World Health Organization are concerned amid growing concerns about the outbreak at the international level, as experts at the United Nations agency are set to discuss the unusually high rates between gay and bisexual men, it was alleged today..
Committee members, who were said to include one of the WHO’s top coronavirus advisers, discussed how to distribute vaccines to control the mounting cases..
Since the start of the monkeypox outbreak, WHO has hosted daily meetings with experts from affected countries and their regional offices, as well as the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where its Strategic, Technical, and Infectious Risk Advisory Group has convened today. Epidemiological and endemic (STAG IH).
The Telegraph reported that Dr. Mike Ryan, Executive Director of Health Emergencies at the World Health Organization, participated in the expert meeting, an epidemiologist at the Occupational Health and Safety Services Agency speculated. (UKHSA) that health chiefs would consider escalating the crisis into a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)
Meanwhile, the outbreak has doubled in size monkeypox In Britain today, Sajid Javid, the British Minister of Health, announced that 11 more people had tested positive for the virus, which is usually only discovered within Africa.
In a statement this afternoon, Dr Kluge of the World Health Organization said that “most” cases in Europe “are mild so far, but cautioned that the disease “could be more serious, especially in young children, pregnant women and individuals with immunodeficiency.”“.
Dr. Kluge emphasized that people suspected of having monkeypox should be investigated and isolated as soon as they showed symptoms, adding that hand and respiratory hygiene and personal protective equipment are necessary to reduce transmission of infection in health care settings. That’s while Germany confirmed today its first case of monkeypox in a patient with “characteristic skin lesions” – a telltale sign of the disease..
Meanwhile, France last night confirmed that a 29-year-old man in Paris had contracted the virus. He has not traveled recently, which indicates the spread of the virus in the community.
Australia has confirmed two cases, including a man in his 30s who traveled from Britain to Melbourne, who developed symptoms earlier this week. Monkeypox cases are usually found in West Africa, and the virus often does not spread elsewhere..
This is why outbreaks reported across Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States have caused concern to public health experts. The disease was first discovered in lab monkeys in the late 1950s, and is usually mild but can cause severe illness in some cases, it can kill up to 10% of the people it infects, the milder strain that causes the current outbreak kills one in 100 people, similar to what happened when the Corona virus first spread.