GINEBRA.- Monkeypox is a rapidly spreading viral disease that appeared in the 1970s in Africa. These are the main characteristics and forms of contagion of this disease of animal origin, generally not serious and whose virus is similar to that of smallpox, a disease eradicated since 1980.
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (Ukhsa) points out that, at the beginning, the symptoms of the disease are usually similar to those of the flu and include: fever, headache, muscle aches, backaches, chills, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes.
The most characteristic symptom appears 1 to 5 days after the fever: se develops a rash that often starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body, mainly the hands and feet.
In many of the current cases, people have reported the appearance of the rash in the genital area.
The way these types of blisters look changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab which then falls off.
If a person has this type of rash, they should go to the doctor and isolate themselves to avoid transmitting the disease to others.
Being attentive to the symptoms is key, because monkeypox, unlike Covid, the disease is only spread when the person develops symptoms.
The Cleveland Clinic explains that a person can infect others while they have scabs and the skin is not totally healthy.
The potential transmission from one person to another can occur through any contact with patient wounds, clothing worn by an infected person (including bedding or towels), coughing or sneezing of an infected person.
The following is a timeline of how the disease spread.
Monkeypox was first detected in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, then Zaire) in a 9 year old boy, according to the WHO. Since then, human cases of monkeypox have been reported in rural or forest areas of 11 African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Congo, DRC, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan.
The first outbreak outside the African continent occurs in USAin June 2003. The health authorities of the Centers for Disease Detection and Control (CDC) reported 87 cases (of which 20 were confirmed by tests) but no deaths. The disease spread there after contamination of domestic prairie dogs by rodents imported from Ghana.
As of 2017, Nigeria is experiencing “a major epidemic”, with more than 500 suspected cases, more than 200 confirmed cases and a case fatality rate of around 3%, according to the WHO. Sporadic cases in travelers from Nigeria are reported in Israel (September 2018), the United Kingdom (September 2018, December 2019, May 2021 and May 2022), Singapore (May 2019) and the United States (July and November 2021).
As of May 2022, cases appear in countries where the disease was not endemic until then. In the United Kingdom, at the beginning of May, a series of infections are detected, especially among homosexual men. As of May 20, this country has 20 infections. The disease also affects Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Sweden. The WHO then registers 80 confirmed cases in the world, with infections also reported in the United States, Canada and Australia.
On May 23, the United States announces the vaccination of contact cases with smallpox vaccines, equally effective against monkeypox. On the 26th, the EU indicates that it is preparing joint purchases of vaccines and treatments against monkeypox, while France carries out the first case vaccinations on the 27th.
On June 8, the president of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announces “more than 1000 confirmed cases” in 29 countries where the disease was not previously endemic. On the 25th, he considers this outbreak to be a very worrying threat to health, but one that has not yet reached the level of a “global health emergency”.
The 21st of June, the United Kingdom, which then has about 800 cases, calls for preventive vaccination of “at risk” men, in particular homosexuals with multiple partners. On July 8, France also proposes preventive vaccination.
As of July 19, the US health authorities (CDC) report more than 14,500 confirmed cases in some sixty countries in which the disease was hitherto unknown. European countries, the United States and Canada concentrate the majority of cases.
AFP and ANSA Agencies