Cases of the viral disease monkeypox have now been confirmed in seven countries, with Sweden, Italy, and the United States all being the latest to join the group.
One expert warns that the number of monkeypox patients will increase in the next few months.
Experts Warn About the Spread of Monkeypox
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, told The DailyMail that the virus is spreading through physical touch. It only spreads through respiratory droplets in the air in patients already exhibiting symptoms.
This revelation changes the formula for how the monkeypox virus spreads compared to what Americans are used to after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was also revealed that the cases detected in Europe are among gay and bisexual men.
First Monkeypox Case in the US
On Wednesday, May 18, health officials in Massachusetts announced the first U.S. case of the monkeypox virus during the outbreak in an unnamed man that had recently traveled to Canada, according to People.
The patient has been hospitalized but is now in good condition.
According to ABC News, at least 13 suspected cases are also being investigated in Quebec, Canada.
American officials are also probing six people who were on the plane ride with a British man that later tested positive for the monkeypox virus. No deaths have been connected to the virus during the outbreak.
Dr. Adalja explained that the virus spreads through close bodily contact.
He also doubts that the six Americans believed to have been potentially exposed to the virus on the plane would have contracted it too because of the small likelihood that they had physically touched the other passengers on the plane.
Dr. Adaljia said that the virus is transmitted only if a person is seated right next to a patient.
The monkeypox virus is common in Africa, especially in the western and central part. Cross-species transmission from animals to humans is possible through physical contact, according to NBC News.
An infected person will suffer rashes and infectious lesions on their skin, and they will also experience flu-like symptoms.
Recorded Outbreaks
The virus is mostly found in Nigeria, though there was a 40-year period without any reported case before it re-emerged in the African nation in 2017.
In usual outbreaks, around one-in-ten cases are fatal, though some experts believe the mortality risk of the strain currently making its way across the world is as low as only 1%.
There was initial speculation that there could be a sexual transmission factor during the outbreak, as many people who tested positive for the virus were bisexual or gay men.
Dr. Adalja said it is too early to determine why, but there are a few reasonable explanations. He said that it is possible that they were at a party together and had sexual contact, as it only needs a touch of the skin of a patient for the virus to spread.
Dr. Adalja warns that it is likely that more cases of the rare virus will be recorded in the U.S. However, it is unclear whether the case figures will eclipse the record of 43 cases of monkeypox that were detected in America back in 2003.
Related Article : Monkeypox Being Monitored in Colorado as Two People were Potentially Exposed on Flight
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
