Monkeypox Spreading Across Europe: What You Need to Know

Currently, there is no dedicated vaccine or specific treatment available for monkeypox.

Several European Union countries have started reporting cases of monkeypox, a rare zoonotic viral infection transmitted through close contact and respiratory droplets, including transmission from various animals to humans.

The incubation period typically ranges from 6 to 16 days but can extend up to 21 days. Infected individuals often develop fever and a rash that causes painful itching. Most cases are mild and resolve within two to three weeks. The fatality rate ranges between 1% and 10%.

• The first European case was confirmed on May 7 in a person who returned to the UK from Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic.
• Since then, Portugal has reported 14 cases, Spain 7, while the United States, Sweden, and France have each confirmed one case. Italian authorities have confirmed one case and are investigating several others.
• Russia has not reported any monkeypox cases, according to their public health agency. However, border health and quarantine measures have been intensified to prevent the virus's entry.

This unusual surge of cases outside Africa may indicate new transmission patterns or viral changes, noted Ann Rimwan, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. A UK colleague added:

This will not trigger a nationwide epidemic like COVID-19, but it is a serious outbreak of a significant disease—and we must approach it with caution.

Jimmy Whitworth

Professor of Global Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

While no specific monkeypox vaccine exists yet, antiviral medications initially developed for smallpox (orthopoxvirus infections) are being used for prevention.

The monkeypox virus was first isolated in 1958 from laboratory monkeys in Copenhagen. The first human case was identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2003, the United States experienced an outbreak with 71 cases linked to rodents imported from Ghana via pet stores.

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