Global Health Officials Concerned About Rising Monkeypox Cases
Posted on 05/23/2022
Monkeypox is a rare disease that is caused by infection with monkeypox virus. Monkeypox is rarely identified outside of Africa. Monkeypox virus belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae. The Orthopoxvirus genus also includes variola virus (which causes smallpox), vaccinia virus (used in the smallpox vaccine), and cowpox virus. The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance now recommends that people who have had “unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact” should isolate for three weeks. Belgium has become the first country to introduce a compulsory 21-day monkeypox quarantine.
In his first public comments on the disease, U.S. President Joe Biden said on May 22, 2022, “It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential.”
“They haven’t told me the level of exposure yet but it is something that everybody should be concerned about,” Biden said.
As of May 21, 2022, 92 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases of monkeypox were under investigation in 12 countries, the World Health Organization said in a news release. Many of the current Monkeypox observations have been identified at sexual health clinics.
Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name ‘monkeypox.’ The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox. Since then, monkeypox has been reported in people in several other central and western African countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone. The majority of infections are in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Monkeypox cases in people have occurred outside of Africa linked to international travel or imported animals, including cases in the United States, as well as Israel, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, “In humans, the symptoms of monkeypox are similar to but milder than the symptoms of smallpox. Monkeypox begins with fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion. The main difference between symptoms of smallpox and monkeypox is that monkeypox causes lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy) while smallpox does not. The incubation period (time from infection to symptoms) for monkeypox is usually 7−14 days but can range from 5−21 days.”
The page adds, “The illness typically lasts for 2−4 weeks. In Africa, monkeypox has been shown to cause death in as many as 1 in 10 persons who contract the disease.”
CDC LINK: https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/symptoms.html
Currently, there is no proven, safe treatment for monkeypox virus infection. For purposes of controlling a monkeypox outbreak in the United States, smallpox vaccine, antivirals, and vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) can be used.
