Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in June at a media briefing. That, along with the fact that the virus that causes monkeypox appears to have a slower reproduction rate than the COVID-19 virus, sets it apart from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. The "close" in close contact is a key element in the transmission of monkeypox. Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, said in a recent statement, noting that those who sought early health care services should be applauded. Gay and bisexual communities tend to have particularly "high awareness and rapid health-seeking behavior when it comes to their and their communities' sexual health," Dr. The close contact you have with a sexual partner may expose you to monkeypox, and the current outbreak is linked to social networks or sexual activity within some communities. Experts are currently investigating whether monkeypox can be spread through semen or vaginal fluid.Īnyone can be infected with monkeypox, but many of the cases in the US recently have been in men who have sex with men, the CDC says. Monkeypox spreads between people primarily through contact with infectious sores, scabs or bodily fluids, according to the CDC, but it can also spread through prolonged face-to-face contact via respiratory droplets or by touching contaminated clothing or bedding. How do you catch monkeypox? Does it compare to COVID? The first human case was discovered in 1970. Monkeypox was first discovered in the 1950s in colonies of monkeys that were being researched, according to the CDC, but it's also been found in squirrels, rats and other animals. Monkeypox has caused 72 deaths this year in countries where it's endemic, according to the WHO, but no deaths have been reported in the current outbreak in countries where it isn't endemic, including the US. The Congo Basin or Central African clade has a higher mortality rate of up to 10%, per the WHO.
The West African strain, which has been identified in the recent cases, according to a May 26 presentation by the WHO, has a fatality rate of less than 1%.
There are two clades or types of monkeypox virus, according to the World Health Organization: the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade. It's caused by an orthopoxvirus of the same family as the one that causes smallpox, though smallpox is considered more clinically severe than monkeypox. Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease, which means it's transmitted from animals to humans. NHS England High Consequence Infectious Diseases Network Monkeypox isn't new, he added, and we already have some tools to stop the spread, including smallpox vaccines. Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "I think it's something to watch and see how extensive the spread may be, but there's no reason for alarm or panic over any of this," said Dr. While the general threat to the public is still low, the CDC says, it's important for individuals and their health care providers to catch symptoms early to contain the outbreak of monkeypox occurring in many countries. Rochelle Walensky had previously said that current monkeypox infections were causing people to develop blemishes that more closely resembled a pimple or or blister as opposed to a more classic, spreading rash, as reported by NBC. In a health alert to medical providers last week on the spread of monkeypox in the US, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that some cases of monkeypox might be getting missed in testing, and that the monkeypox rash could be mistaken for (or come in addition to) other common infections, like herpes.ĬDC Director Dr. (There were two reported cases last year, and 47 cases in 2003 in an outbreak linked to pet prairie dogs.) Reports of it are rare in the US but not unheard of. Monkeypox is endemic in West and Central Africa.
As of Thursday, there were 156 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the US across the US, a CDC map shows, with California, New York, Illinois and Florida reporting the most cases. Monkeypox is a disease caused by an orthopoxvirus, and the virus that causes it belongs to the same family as the viruses that cause smallpox and cowpox.
If you have an unexplained rash or skin blemish or think you may have been exposed, seek medical care. Some people with monkeypox may have only a small rash or blemishes mistaken for something else.Īnyone can get monkeypox, but gay and bisexual men are being disproportionately affected in the current outbreak. While no US deaths have been reported, controlling monkeypox is important for public health. Cases of monkeypox are growing in the US, adding to the global outbreak of monkeypox in countries that don't normally report the disease (where it isn't endemic).