What Is Monkeypox and Why Are Scientists on Alert?

While still suffering from the COVID pandemic, the world is welcoming another virus, which people must control before the situation will aggravate.

It's Monkeypox, and there are about 80 confirmed cases in 11 countries around the world including the United Kingdom, where no such disease was expected.

The virus is not due to COVID-19 mutation but there is an unusual and unprecedented spread of this disease.

 

Parallel to Coronavirus

Monkeypox is spreading across the globe and several cases have been reported in the US, Australia, Portugal, Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Canada.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) registered a further 14 cases in England on Tuesday, to reach 70 patients, and one further in Scotland, The Guardian read.

UKHSA is looking for possible connections between the infected British patients noting that four were diagnosed together on Monday last week, and they were all gay or bisexual men.

The health agency warned that it could indicate the virus is being sexually transmitted among that community, according to The Independent.

The infectious disease epidemiologist at UKHSA, Mateo Prochazka, who is currently leading the agency’s investigation, said that shared circumstance was “highly suggestive of spread in sexual networks.”

Dr. Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser to the UKHSA, said in a statement: “We are particularly urging men who are gay and bisexual to be aware of any unusual rashes or lesions and to contact a sexual health service without delay.”

However, Dr. Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, says the registered cases may be the first time transmission of Monkeypox despite the documentation of the sexual contact but this has not been proved.

“There is no evidence that it is a sexually transmitted virus, such as HIV,” Head says. “It’s more that here the close contact during sexual or intimate activity, including prolonged skin-to-skin contact, may be the key factor during transmission.”

 

What to Know?

Monkeypox is a viral contagion typically found in central and western Africa. Cases are sometimes diagnosed in other countries, like the UK where the first case was registered in 2018, the person infected was thought to have contracted the virus in Nigeria.

Monkeypox carries two forms, a milder west African strain and a more severe central African, or Congo strain.

The West African strain is probably the form detected in the current outbreak, but not all countries revealed such information.

According to the UK Health Security Agency, early symptoms of monkeypox come with “fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, and chills, as well as other features such as exhaustion.”

“A rash can develop, often beginning on the face, then spreading to other parts of the body, including the genitals,” the UKHSA says.

“The rash changes and goes through different stages, and can look like chickenpox or syphilis, before finally forming a scab, which later falls off.”

After a few weeks, most infected people recover from Monkeypox.

The virus is well-known, and there are already vaccines and treatments; however, the virus can be more dangerous for young children, pregnant women, and people with weak immune systems.

Monkeypox spreads more slowly than COVID-19, and with the characteristic, painful rash,  it is hard to hide the virus.

So it is possible to easily notice people who may have the virus and vaccinate those who will be at risk of contracting it.

This does not need medical intervention; the symptoms will disappear in two or three weeks.

The virus can also be transmitted from an infected animal, such as monkeys and rats, to humans or from contaminated objects such as bedding.

There is no cure for monkeypox, but the spread can be stopped through some restrictions that prevent transmission.

 

What Happened?

US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that: “Everybody should be concerned” about Monkeypox.

“They (health advisers) haven’t told me the level of exposure yet, but it is something that everybody should be concerned about,” telling reporters that “we’re working on it hard to figure out what we do and what vaccine, if any, may be available for it.”

“But it is a concern in the sense that if it were to spread, it’s consequential. That’s all they have told me,” he added.

WHO said Monkeypox has so far been detected in 12 countries, while over 50 suspected additional cases are being investigated, according to the Anadolu agency.

Healthcare workers in the UK are being offered smallpox vaccines as protection because no specific Monkeypox vaccine is currently available; the smallpox variation, however, is 85% effective against the virus.

Jimmy Whitworth, a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said the virus is “highly unusual” adding that “historically, there have been very few cases exported. It has only happened eight times in the past before this year.”