Monkeypox virus can be present in the semen of infected patients. Italian researchers detected it in the seminal fluid of 3 patients. They describe these cases in Eurosurveillance, the European journal on infectious diseasespublished by ECDC, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
“This is the first time that we have made this observation in the epidemic which is affecting Europe today.e”, comments doctor Agnès Libois, infectious disease specialist at CHU Saint-Pierre.
This is the first time that we have made this observation in the epidemic which is affecting Europe today.e
The virus is known to be transmitted mainly by close skin contact, and by prolonged exposure to respiratory droplets, as well as by contact with contaminated objects. In their latest joint reportECDC and WHO (Europe) also talk about contact “with bodily fluids”.
body fluids
“The Italian article shows that they are everywhere, in fact, specifies the infectiologist. They detected it in the saliva of one of them, in the stools of two others, obviously in the nasopharyngeal swabs, and therefore also in the semen of three of the four patients followed (the data are not available for the fourth patient).”