Monkeypox “suddenly reappeared” a few months ago. And before ? Smallpox had disappeared from the human race for many years, as Jean-Christophe Goffard, head of the internal medicine department at the Erasmus hospital, recalled during an interview on La Première. But today, Marc Van Ranst reports to the American television channel NBC News that the virus could have passed under the radar for several… years!
The disease is not under control
The explanation is that according to him, many cases are not malignant, but benign. So much so that they can easily be confused with sexually transmitted diseases, add scientists.
“Everyone is interested in the genetic makeup of the virus to find an answer to the important question of how long these viruses have been circulating under the radar. I don’t think anyone believes it only appeared a few weeks ago,” Marc Van Ranst told HLN.
Marc Van Ranst still warns against monkey pox at festivals: “People are close to each other, that’s what the virus needs”. At this point, more than a thousand cases have been confirmed across the world. Sciensano reported on Friday that the counter for our country now stands at seventeen cases, especially in Brussels and Flanders.
The next few days will be crucial, according to Van Ranst “the virus is not under control”, he warns.