The reported cases of monkeypox could be the tip of the iceberg, warned the director of pandemic and epidemic diseases of the World Health Organization.
For example, the cases of smallpox of the monkey in the United Kingdom have exceeded 100, as there are a total of 106 Reported infections, according to the latest available government data.
Now, the WHO said almost 200 cases of monkeypox in more than 20 countries that generally do not have outbreaks of the disease.
Dr Sylvie Briand, director of pandemic and epidemic diseases at the WHO, told a public briefing: “We don’t know if we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg (or) if there are many more cases going undetected in communities.”
Monkeypox starts as raised spots that turn into small fluid-filled blisters, eventually these blisters form scabs which then fall off, according to the NHS.
It is usually mild and most people recover in a few weeks without treatment. The virus spreads through close contact.
The outbreak has been seen in Europe, the United States, Israel, Australia and beyond.
WHO’s Briand said the current situation seemed “containable” based on how previous outbreaks of the disease in Africa have evolved .
“The first sequencing of the virus shows that the strain is not different from the strains that we can find in endemic countries and (this outbreak) is probably due more to a change in human behavior,” he said.
High-risk close contacts of confirmed cases of monkeypox are being traced and they are recommended to isolate them for up to 21 days.
At the moment there is a vaccine developed specifically for monkeypox, but the WHO said that smallpox vaccines are effective around 29 percent.
Dr. Rosamund Lewis, head of the WHO smallpox department, said “there is no need for mass vaccination” because monkeypox generally requires skin-to-skin contact for transmission.
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