Monkeypox

“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 if ...

The disease can also be transmitted by touching monkeypox skin blisters or scabs, or getting too close to coughs and sneezes from an infected person. Patients will usually need to stay in a specialist hospital so infection doesn’t spread and general symptoms can be treated. The rash is sometimes confused with chickenpox, because it starts as raised spots which turn into small scabs filled with fluid. But it is possible to spread the disease through touching clothing, bedding, or towels used by someone with the rash. It’s thought to be spread by rodents, such as rats, mice, and squirrels. Monkeypox can be caught from a bite by an infected animal, or by touching its blood, body fluids or fur.

Italy has diagnosed its first case of the monkeypox infection at the Spallanzani hospital in Rome, the hospital said on Thursday, adding that the person, ...

A smattering of monkeypox cases in Britain has prompted authorities to offer a smallpox vaccine to some healthcare workers and others who may have been ...

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Italian authorities have confirmed one case, and suspect two more. The United States and Sweden have also reported one case each. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Since then, Portugal has logged 14 cases, and Spain has confirmed seven cases.

WEDNESDAY, May 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) — After four new cases of typically rare monkeypox infection were spotted in Britain earlier this week, ...

Health officials need to learn more about how monkeypox spreads in general, even in the countries where it is endemic, Fall told the AP. Earlier this week, British health authorities confirmed four cases of monkeypox in England among gay and bisexual men, and Spain’s Health Ministry also announced eight suspected cases of monkeypox that still needed to be confirmed. The disease, which is usually not lethal, is typically limited to Africa, but there have been recent cases reported in Europe.

Some European officials worry that the continent is seeing a new mode of spread due to atypical diseases clusters, as many identified cases have been found ...

And as of 2001 there were enough smallpox vaccines in the stockpile for the entire U.S. population, according to Toner. "It has a long incubation period, which means plenty of time to implement quarantine and isolation." Other smallpox vaccines were used to prevent monkeypox transmission in outbreaks before the development of Jynneos, though they weren't approved for such a purpose, she added. Antivirals are available too, she said, including tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX, an oral antiviral approved for smallpox in adults and children. Because respiratory droplets and close contact are known modes of transmission, McCollum adds, it's hard to differentiate potential sexual transmission from close-contact transmission that may occur during sex. In the European Union it's approved for the treatment of monkeypox and cowpox "and would likely be allowed to be given off label in the case of a monkeypox case in the U.S.," Yonts said. It's thought to be fatal in about 10% of cases. But data to support the theory is currently lacking, McCollum says. In short, says Toner: "It is of no risk to the general public, and there are plenty of other things to worry about." While sexual transmission of monkeypox has never been documented, the disease has experienced "epidemiological changes in recent years," including changes in the age of those affected and location of infections, according to a Wedneday health security update sent by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. While concerning, monkeypox is "not highly transmissible" and "not likely to cause large outbreaks," says Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scientist and health security expert with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The first identified monkeypox case of the year in the U.S.—found in a Massachusetts man who recently traveled to Canada—constitutes a "public health urgency," but not yet an emergency, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control epidemiologist told Fortune.

Rome's Spallanzani hospital on Thursday said it had confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus infection in a man who had returned from the Canary Islands.

The incubation period of monkeypox is usually from six to 13 days but can range from five to 21 days. Monkeypox is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox, though milder, and it was first recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1970s, Reuters reports. Monkeypox is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox, though milder, and it was first recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1970s, Reuters reports.

The monkeypox virus causes fever and a bumpy rash and is usually transmitted to people from wild animals.

WHO is working with national authorities to respond quickly & effectively to these outbreaks"- @DrTedros He had recently travelled to Canada. There are two main strains: the Congo strain, which is more severe – with up to 10 percent mortality – and the West African strain, which has a fatality rate of 1 percent of cases. The smallpox vaccine, which also protects against monkeypox, has been phased out. The UK infections have been reported as the West African strain. “Historically, there have been very few cases exported.

We'll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Disease control and prevention news every morning. Health officials in the US have detected the ...

It's a virus that is mainly spread by wild animals in parts of west and central Africa, according to the WHO — but human-to-human transmission can also occur, ...

Preston added: “Monkeypox is not recognized as a sexually transmitted disease — that is, something that’s hugely dependent on being spread through sexual contact. “That’s the worrying thing — the epidemiology would suggest there are other unrecognized cases at the moment. “As a whole, we shouldn’t be panicking — this is not a disease that spreads like COVID-19 within the general population,” Mabbott told Fortune. “Monkeypox isn’t very transmissible in humans. “That would suggest there are other contacts forming the connections between those cases,” he explained. “It’s still somewhat of a mystery as to how this is spreading. The West African variety – the strain currently circulating in Europe and the U.S. – has a recorded fatality rate of around 1%, while the Central African strain’s recorded fatality rate is around 10%. He added that it was concerning to see that some of the cases identified in the U.K. had no links to one another. The cases identified in the U.K. have all been the West African strain of the virus, which is thought to be milder than the Central African strain. Two cases of the virus were identified in London a week after the first case was reported — but authorities said the individuals had no connection to the previously confirmed case, and “where and how they acquired their infection remains under investigation.” It’s a virus that is mainly spread by wild animals in parts of west and central Africa, according to the WHO — but human-to-human transmission can also occur, and it is occasionally exported to other parts of the world when an infected person travels. Canada is investigating 13 suspected cases of the disease, with the U.S. patient reported to have recently traveled to the country. The first case associated with the current outbreak was reported in the U.K. on May 7 in a person who had recently traveled to Nigeria, where they are believed to have contracted the disease.

STAT had many questions about monkeypox. Fortunately, Andrea McCollum, an expert at the CDC, had many answers.

It depends on the person and it depends on the extent of the rash. If a patient’s been in bed, then the lesions have exudate and pus and that gets on the bed linens and the virus is in that material. A number of the cases are in men who have sex with men, which raises the question of sexual transmission. But at this point, everything we’re hearing and seeing is consistent with what we know about monkeypox, which is that it requires close contact. We do know that lesions themselves, including the ones that present on the surface of the skin, they’re loaded with virus. It’s only during that healing phase [with monkeypox] when there’s crusting and the skin is regenerating a bit, patients mention itching. But I will remind you that you can have an R-naught of less than one and the agent can still be transmitted person to person. I don’t think we have a really good handle on whether most of it is respiratory or skin-to-skin. We don’t have really good contemporary estimates of R-naught. [R-naught is the figure that estimates how many people an infected person, on average, will infect.] We don’t really have any estimates of R-naught for the West African clade. So far it seems that the cases are being caused by viruses from the West African clade, which triggers milder disease than the other family of viruses, called the Congo Basin clade. Monkeypox causes a flu-like array of symptoms, but also comes with a distinctive rash; one telltale sign is the fact that lesions often appear on the palms of hands. At this point, the cases are mainly being detected by clinics that treat sexually transmitted diseases and are being seen in men who have sex with men.

So far, nine people have been infected with the virus in the UK, all but two in London. The disease is normally sporadic and linked to travel to parts of ...

This isn't another COVID. But the outbreak of monkeypox is unusual. It's not known whether they are linked to what is going on in the UK or whether there have been multiple introductions of the virus from West Africa. It's more likely that prolonged and intimate skin to skin contact is spreading the virus. But it's now clear that the virus is spreading within the UK, and many cases are likely to be going undetected. So far, nine people have been infected with the virus in the UK, all but two in London. The disease is normally sporadic and linked to travel to parts of Africa where it is endemic. Normally the disease is sporadic and linked to travel to parts of Africa where it is endemic.

The outbreaks are raising alarm because the viral disease, which spreads through close contact and was first found in monkeys, mostly occurs in west and central ...

Smallpox was eradicated by vaccination in 1980, and the shot has since been phased out. Only the first case reported on May 6 had recently traveled to Nigeria. The virus spreads through close contact, both in spillovers from animals and, less commonly, between humans. It is usually mild, although there are two main strains: the Congo strain, which is more severe – with up to 10% mortality – and the West African strain, which has a fatality rate in about 1% of cases. "Historically, there have been very few cases exported. The UK cases have been reported as the West African strain.

The announcement raises the possibility that the first monkeypox infection found in the United States is connected to the Canadian cases.

The cases diagnosed in Europe have been caused by the West African clade of the virus, which is typically less dangerous than the Congo Basin clade. In Africa, monkeypox has been fatal in about 1 in 10 cases, with severe disease and death more likely among children, young adults, and people with compromised immune systems, though the ECDC said in its report that the case fatality rate for the West African clade has been 3.6%. One possible explanation for why so many cases in the current outbreak have been identified at STI clinics is that people have turned up with “a preponderance of lesions in the genital area,” the ECDC wrote. Health authorities have stressed cases are likely not limited to this population, both to try to avoid stigmatization, and to ensure that clinicians remain on the lookout for infections in other groups of people. The health officials in Montreal said the suspected cases there have included painful lesions in the mouth and on the penis. It’s also not clear, for example, if the U.S. case is related to the cases in Europe. Genomic sequencing can help answer that question.

A Massachusetts man has been diagnosed with monkeypox, a viral infection that has been recently found in clusters in Europe and Canada.

In humans, symptoms are mild but not unlike the symptoms of smallpox. The CDC says 10% of cases in Africa are fatal. The CDC said that was the first time cases were reported outside of Africa. It is also possible that eating meat of an animal infected with the virus may lead to infection. The latest case is getting more attention because of recent unusual clusters in other countries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says monkeypox was first seen in 1958 during two outbreaks of a pox-like illness that spread through colonies of monkeys who were research subjects.

Cases of monkeypox, a virus typically confined to West and Central Africa, have recently turned up in several countries, including the U.K., Spain, ...

While acknowledging that the outbreak is unusual, experts stressed that any risk to the public is low, given monkeypox’s relatively low rate of contagiousness. Since then, eight more cases have been confirmed in the U.K., all of them among people who had no obvious connection to the first one. In the U.K., the first case was confirmed on May 7 in a man who had been in Nigeria and had developed a rash before returning. One strain of monkeypox is highly deadly, with a fatality rate of about 10 percent; another strain, which is the one detected in the U.K., causes death in less than 1 percent of cases. Health authorities said he was in “good condition” and “poses no risk to the public.” In 2003, a Midwest outbreak tied to travel in Ghana affected more than 70 people, though only two fell seriously ill and no one died.

The virus behind monkeypox is a close relative of the one that caused smallpox but is less deadly and less transmissible, causing symptoms that include fever ...

The oft-cited fatality rate of about 10 percent applies to a strain that infected people in the Congo Basin. The West African strain, which several of the current cases have been linked to, has a fatality rate closer to 1 percent—and that’s in poor, rural populations. And as another bioterrorism precaution, stockpiles of three smallpox vaccines are large enough “to vaccinate basically everyone in the U.S.” Inglesby said. It’s urgent to identify people early, get them treatment, and identify contacts.” It helps that one common symptom is an obvious rash, which looks like an extreme version of chickenpox. As for the U.S., “there are currently no additional suspected cases” beyond the individual in Massachusetts, McCollum told me. Are they the work of a new and more transmissible strain of monkeypox? A 2012 study suggested that the virus can persist in aerosols for several days—but that was under artificial laboratory conditions, and persistence is just one small part of the infection process. For decades, a few scientists have voiced concerns that the monkeypox virus could have become better at infecting people—ironically because we eradicated its relative, smallpox, in the late 1970s. “I’ve seen a lot of people writing as if everything we know about monkeypox is definitive and finalized, but the reality is that it is still a rare zoonotic infection,” she said. “I don’t think people should be freaking out at this stage,” Carl Bergstrom of the University of Washington told me, “but I don’t trust my own gut feelings anymore, because I’m so sick of all this shit that I tend to be optimistic.” Then again, Marr is less certain about monkeypox than she was about COVID. And Titanji notes that our knowledge of monkeypox is based on just 1,500 or so recorded cases, as of 2018. Rarely, monkeypox makes it to other continents, and when it does, outbreaks “are so small, they’re measured in single digits,” Thomas Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told me. This suggests that the monkeypox virus may be surreptitiously spreading from person to person, with some number of undetected cases.

Sam Fazeli: Monkeypox virus comes from the same family as smallpox — the orthopoxviruses. It's the most common of its family infecting humans after smallpox was ...

One way is to use ring vaccination, that is, vaccinating individuals in areas where there has been a case detected — and certainly the people who have been at risk of contact with the infected individuals. What is likely going on is that the global level of immunity to orthopoxviruses has declined, as the last smallpox vaccination campaigns ended in the 1970s. For those who are too young to have been vaccinated against smallpox, the risk is likely to be in the ranges noted above. Chimerix’s Tembexa capsules and liquid formulation, which the company is in the process of selling to Emergent BioSolutions, was approved by the FDA in June 2021 for the treatment of smallpox infections. Remember that the problem with SARS-CoV-2 was that it was also transmitted by aerosol, which can hang around in a room for much longer than droplets, which tend to fall to the ground relatively quickly. Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and many other regulatory agencies for both smallpox and monkeypox, whereas Emergent BioSolutions Inc./Sanofi’s ACAM2000 is only approved for smallpox, though is also likely to work against monkeypox. SF: It has nothing to do with weakened immunity associated with the pandemic. SF: The Congo Basin monkeypox virus strain is more pathogenic than the West African strain, with higher morbidity as measured by lesion count and mortality, which for the former has been pegged at 10%–13% compared with 1% for the West African strain. Human-to-human transmission of monkeypox is thought to be through saliva or respiratory droplets or contact with skin lesions, but it is not clear how efficient airborne transmission is. The average case fatality rate of monkeypox in unvaccinated persons has been reported at as high as 10%-13%. While we no longer worry as much about the severity of Covid, there are questions about whether the pandemic has left us more exposed to other serious illnesses. It was not really thought of as a distinct infection until it was detected in a patient who was thought to have smallpox in Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1972.

The symptoms and causes of monkeypox infections, which CDC calls an 'emerging issue'. A string of new cases in Europe and the U.S. is "the most important ...

The CDC website states that "in the event of another outbreak of monkeypox in the U.S., CDC will establish guidelines explaining who should be vaccinated." There’s really quite a lot of work that would need to be done before we would say that it can be transmitted sexually," she said. The West African clade of monkeypox is much more benign than the Congo Basin clade," Rao said. Rimoin said supportive care is pretty effective for the West African clade. Monkeypox belongs to the family of poxviruses, which includes smallpox. As an emerging issue, we’re asking people to keep it top of mind at the moment." Beyond that, she said, there are some experimental drugs that have not been widely tested in people. Person-to-person transmission can occur through the exchange of large respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact. So what we’re seeing right now is unusual," said Dr. Agam Rao, a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology. "We are telling people this is an emerging issue," she said. The U.S. reported its first monkeypox case of the year on Wednesday: a man in Massachusetts. New York City's health department said on Thursday that it is investigating a possible case as well. France reported a suspected case on Thursday too.

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and ...

"The pets were infected after being housed near imported small mammals from Ghana," the CDC said. Since then, there have been more than 450 reported cases in Nigeria and at least eight known exported cases internationally, the agency said. "Monkeypox can be a serious infection, with mortality rates from this type of monkeypox virus having been around 1% in other outbreaks. Those cases are typically linked to international travel or imported animals infected with the pox, the CDC said. "At this time, we don't want people to worry," Murthy said. The painful, raised poxes are pearly and fluid-filled, often surrounded by red circles.

Pox viruses are oval shaped and have. There are many types of Pox virus including Monkeypox, Chickenpox and Smallpox. Photo: Roger Harris/Science Photo Libra ...

According to health officials, the man has been hospitalised, is in "good condition" and "poses no risk to the public". It follows the confirmation of cases in the US, Spain and Portugal on Wednesday, as well as the investigation of 13 suspected cases in Canada. Cases of suspected and confirmed Monkeypox are being investigated in a number of European countries, the US, Canada and the UK, according to health authorities and local media reports.

European and American health authorities have identified a number of monkeypox cases in recent days, mostly in young men. It's a surprising outbreak of a ...

The World Health Organisation estimates there are thousands of monkeypox infections in about a dozen African countries every year. The infections in Portugal were picked up at a sexual health clinic, where the men sought help for lesions on their genitals. Most human cases have been in central and west Africa, where the disease is endemic. The illness was first identified by scientists in 1958 when there were two outbreaks of a "pox-like" disease in research monkeys - thus the name monkeypox. The incubation period is from about five days to three weeks. European and American health authorities have identified a number of monkeypox cases in recent days, mostly in young men.

"A man in his 40s developed a mild illness several days after arriving back in Sydney," NSW Health said in a media release on Friday. "He subsequently presented ...

A vaccine developed against smallpox has been approved for monkeypox, and several anti-virals also appear to be effective." People can contract monkeypox through very close contact with people who are infected with the virus,” Chant said. Urgent testing was carried out which has today identified a probable case of monkeypox, with confirmatory testing underway."

Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are closely tracking recent clusters of monkeypox infections around the world -- and possible ...

The reservoir for this virus, the natural reservoir in nature is probably certain types of rodents." At this point, again, these numbers are still small -- we want them to be aware of these symptoms and if they have any concerns to reach out to their doctor." "And if you haven't had contact in Massachusetts and you're not related to the person who had disease or in that link at all -- until we have any other reason to expect or to understand how this disease got into the United States -- your risk of getting monkeypox is really low." "I think to the public overall, there really is no clear risk at this point," Shenoy said. , belonging to the scientific family of "pox" viruses. Those pets were housed at an animal vendor's facilities in Illinois where they may have been infected with the virus. "As we work to complete our investigations and get our arms around it then hopefully we'll have much stronger recommendations for folks." "It's definitely something that we're discussing and evaluating, whether offering smallpox vaccine makes sense in the current setting," she said. . But cases have been identified that were associated with international travel or importing animals from areas where the disease is more common. The facilities housed other small mammals imported from Ghana that tested positive for monkeypox virus: two African giant pouched rats, nine dormice and three rope squirrels. "We're working through the investigations." "We have a level of scientific concern about what we're seeing because this is a very unusual situation.

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and ...

"The pets were infected after being housed near imported small mammals from Ghana," the CDC said. Since then, there have been more than 450 reported cases in Nigeria and at least eight known exported cases internationally, the agency said. "Monkeypox can be a serious infection, with mortality rates from this type of monkeypox virus having been around 1% in other outbreaks. Those cases are typically linked to international travel or imported animals infected with the pox, the CDC said. "At this time, we don't want people to worry," Murthy said. The painful, raised poxes are pearly and fluid-filled, often surrounded by red circles.

The authorities said little about the patient, who is currently in isolation at Bellevue Hospital, according to a statement from the city health department. The ...

It is believed to have begun with the importation of infected squirrels and other rodents from Ghana. They in turn infected prairie dogs that were subsequently sold as pets. The authorities said little about the patient, who is currently in isolation at Bellevue Hospital, according to a statement from the city health department. Sweden and Italy reported cases on Thursday. The patients in Britain and those in Canada are mostly men who have sex with men.

European and American health authorities have identified a number of monkeypox cases in recent days, mostly in young men. It's a surprising outbreak of a d.

The World Health Organisation estimates there are thousands of monkeypox infections in about a dozen African countries every year. The infections in Portugal were picked up at a sexual health clinic, where the men sought help for lesions on their genitals. Most human cases have been in central and west Africa, where the disease is endemic. The incubation period is from about five days to three weeks. The illness was first identified by scientists in 1958 when there were two outbreaks of a "pox-like" disease in research monkeys – thus the name monkeypox. European and American health authorities have identified a number of monkeypox cases in recent days, mostly in young men.