Rare monkeypox cases increase sharply in Europe, WHO holds emergency meeting

To date, more than 100 confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported in at least nine European countries, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. and you. Health authorities in the US, Canada and Australia have also reported similar cases in their countries.

According to Reuters, on May 20 alone, Spain reported 24 new cases, mainly in the Madrid area, where local authorities closed a sauna that has been linked to most of the infections. sick.

An Israeli hospital is treating a man in his mid-30s with symptoms consistent with monkeypox after returning from Western Europe.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that was first detected in monkeys, medical experts said. The virus lives in animals, including primates and rodents, but it can sometimes be spread from animals to humans, mainly through contact with respiratory droplets or respiratory droplets. wound or body fluids of the case.

The monkeypox virus is in the same family as the virus that causes smallpox, which is common in humans, but is milder and does not spread easily between people, Live Science previously reported. Monkeypox is usually mild, characterized by fever and a rough rash.

Since most human cases have long occurred in remote areas of Central and West Africa, rarely extending beyond the continent, the emergence of new cases in Europe is cause for concern.

“This is the largest and most widespread monkeypox outbreak ever seen in Europe,” the leader of Germany’s military medical force said when detecting the first case in the country on May 20.

Scientists hope the current outbreak will not evolve into a pandemic like Covid-19, because the virus that causes the disease is not as contagious as SARS-CoV-2. According to a senior US official, monkeypox poses only a low risk to the general public at this time.

Tuan Anh

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