Monkeypox could be stopped exterior endemic international locations: WHO

The monkeypox outbreaks in non-endemic international locations could be contained and human-to-human transmission of the virus stopped, the World Health Organization mentioned Monday.

Fewer than 200 confirmed and suspected circumstances had been recorded to date, the WHO’s rising illness lead Maria Van Kerkhove mentioned.

“This is a containable situation, particularly in the countries where we are seeing these outbreaks that are happening across Europe, in North America as well,” Van Kerkhove informed a dwell interplay on the UN well being company’s social media channels.

“We want to stop human-to-human transmission. We can do this in the non-endemic countries. We’re in a situation where we can use public health tools of early identification, supported isolation of cases.

“We can cease human-to-human transmission.”

Van Kerkhove said transmission was happening via “shut bodily contact: skin-to-skin contact”, and that most of the people identified so far had not had a severe case of the disease.

Rosamund Lewis, who heads the smallpox secretariat on the WHO emergencies programme, said monkeypox had been known for at least 40 years and a few cases had appeared in Europe over the last five years in travellers from the endemic regions.

However, “that is the primary time we’re seeing circumstances throughout many international locations on the similar time and individuals who haven’t travelled to the endemic areas in Africa”, she said.

She cited Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“It is primarily within the animal kingdom in forested areas. Now we’re seeing it extra in city areas,” she said.

MUTATION STUDIES

Lewis said it was not yet known whether the virus had mutated but viruses in the wider orthopoxvirus group “have a tendency to not mutate and so they are typically pretty secure.

“We don’t yet have evidence yet that there is mutation in the virus itself,” she mentioned. Virologists might be learning the primary genomic sequences of the virus coming by, she added.

Van Kerkhove mentioned a serious international assembly subsequent week would talk about analysis, epidemiology, diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

Andy Seale, methods advisor on the WHO’s international HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections programmes, careworn that whereas the virus could possibly be caught by sexual exercise, it was not a sexually transmitted illness.

“While we are seeing some cases amongst men who have sex with men, this is not a gay disease, as some people in social media have attempted to label it. That’s just not the case.

“This demographic is mostly a demographic that actually does handle well being screening… They’ve been proactive about responding to uncommon signs.

“Anybody can contract monkeypox through close contact.”

Van Kerkhove added that as surveillance widened, specialists did count on to see extra circumstances.