The potentially dangerous disease has been seen in 11 US states and more than 30 countries outside of Africa
The monkeypox virus is slowly spreading through two separate outbreaks in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), citing genetic sequencing. Worldwide, there have been more than 700 cases this week, many of which have been reported in Europe among recent travelers to Africa or their contacts.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Jennifer McQuiston, the CDC’s monkeypox response chief, said viral samples collected in the United States appeared to have more than one place of origin, suggesting several separate outbreaks. in the country.
“It is unclear what all of this means, but it is likely that there have been at least two different cases of the spread of monkeypox virus to humans in Nigeria in recent years from the animal. who supports him,” he added. she said, adding that the pathogen “It probably started to spread through close personal contact, possibly intimate or sexual contact.”
In the latest cluster of cases, a total of 23 infections have been identified by US health authorities, including a Florida resident who tested positive for the first time in the UK. On Friday, at least one case was reported in New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington State, California, Hawaii, Colorado, Illinois and Massachusetts. There have been no deaths to date.
The health agency has issued travel advisories urging Americans to take precautions to avoid the virus, including wearing masks and avoiding contact with wild animals or game meat while abroad. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) recently noted that mass vaccination against monkeypox would not be necessary, US authorities have nevertheless delivered approximately 1,200 doses of vaccine and 100 treatments to eight states, according to senior White House health official Raj Panjabi. Preparations have also been made to purchase additional vaccines, with the government signing a contract in May to purchase millions of injections from a European pharmaceutical company.
Outside Africa, where the disease is endemic, nearly 800 infections have been confirmed worldwide, including in Europe, South America and the Middle East. Belgium became the first EU state to impose mandatory quarantines on people suspected of having the virus last month after finding four cases.
Although rare, monkeypox has already been discovered in the United States, with a Texas resident hospitalized with the virus last summer after traveling to West Africa. More than 70 cases were confirmed in the United States in 2003, which was the first outbreak outside of Africa, according to the WHO.
At least two recently counted cases in the United States appear to be closely related to the strain discovered in Texas last year, while the others are more like a variant circulating in Europe, McQuiston said.
Early symptoms are fever, headache and muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion, and although most infections clear up without serious illness, the virus is fatal in a small percentage of cases.
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