Monkeypox appeared in many countries

These were two men, both returning from Europe, with mild illness with clinical symptoms compatible with monkeypox.

A day earlier, the provincial government of Quebec – Canada announced that it was investigating 17 suspected cases of monkeypox. According to Reuters, a number of other countries have previously announced cases of monkeypox, such as the US, Italy, UK, Spain, and Portugal.

Since 2020, several outbreaks of monkeypox have been recorded and contained in Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Africa, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Acting Director Ahmed Ogwell Ouma said. Central African Republic. According to Mr. Ouma, Africa CDC is working with CDCs in Europe to share experience in responding to and determining the cause of the spread.

The hand of a monkeypox patient has blisters Photo: MEDSCAPE

The UK currently has nine cases of monkeypox. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it has made smallpox vaccine available, which can also prevent monkeypox, to healthcare workers and people who may have been exposed to the disease. Meanwhile, Siga Technologies (USA) said it had received a request to buy their smallpox medicine to treat monkeypox.

Epidemiologist Susan Hopkins, UKHSA’s chief medical adviser, said that monkeypox is spread by contact with bodily fluids from an infected person so the risk to the public is low.

There are currently two strains of monkeypox: the Congo strain (which causes more severe disease with a mortality rate of up to 10%) and the West African strain (the mild strain with a mortality rate of less than 1%). The disease is characterized by fever, pain, lymphadenopathy, and chickenpox-like blisters, and most patients recover in 2-4 weeks.