According to the Wall Street Journal, authorities in New York City are reportedly monitoring what they believe to be the state’s first suspected case of monkeypox in a patient seeking treatment at Bellevue Hospital. According to the report, preliminary tests have been completed to confirm the condition.
According to the World Health Organization, there have been a total of 87 confirmed cases around the globe, with another 57 cases still being investigated. On Friday morning, Israel became the thirteenth nation to report a possible case of the disease.
On Friday, reports of the sickness were also received from Germany, Australia, France, and Belgium. In Canada, two people have been positively identified as having the disease.
The infectious rash caused by monkeypox in people is quite similar to that caused by chickenpox, and it is passed from person to person by direct contact. Muscle pains, chills, fever, swollen glands, tiredness, and, of course, pustules are among the symptoms that often manifest themselves during the first five days of an infection.
There is an endemic population of monkeypox in three countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic. The fatality rate for monkeypox varies from 1% to 15%. According to the WHO, the individual who had the first known instance of the disease in the United Kingdom had previously visited Nigeria before returning with a rash.
According to the Telegraph, the World Health Organization is reportedly in the process of calling an emergency conference to discuss the current monkeypox outbreak. The meeting will bring together a group of renowned specialists.
The gathering comes at a time when twelve different nations have reported new cases, with the CDC confirming that there is at least one case in the United States.
I’m sure that ultimately this will be the largest outbreak of monkeypox that we’ve had outside of the endemic areas in Africa,” Daniel Bausch, infectious disease expert and president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene told Axios. In spite of this, Bausch does not believe there should be any reason for alarm at this time. “I don’t think there’s a reason for panic. I don’t think we’re going to have tens of thousands of cases.”
According to Prof. Anne Rimoin, a professor of epidemiology at UCLA and a world-renowned specialist on monkeypox, vaccinating close contacts of confirmed cases, commonly known as ring vaccination, is a smart alternative for health authorities. Prof. Rimoin made this statement in an interview with the Telegraph.
She went on to say that the general people need not be very alarmed at this point. “For your average person I would not be overly alarmed. If you have a rash, contact your health provider, a rash that is unusual or looks like monkeypox,” she said. “If you think you’ve been exposed to somebody who has monkeypox that has this kind of a rash I would I would identify yourself and talk to your healthcare provider.”
It would seem that monkeypox is rapidly becoming more prevalent. The United Kingdom was the location that verified the first first instance of the disease in the western world in 2022 on May 7th. Now, a little over a week and a half later, there have been scores of confirmed and suspected cases in twelve different countries outside of Africa.
Munich, Germany has been identified as the location of a confirmed case of monkeypox. On Friday, Bavaria’s Minister of Health Klaus Holetschek brought this to everyone’s attention. The patient originates from Brazil and is now being kept in isolation at the Munich Clinic Schwabing.
According to the announcement made by the French Directorate General of Health on Friday, a first case of infection with monkeypox was found in France on Thursday in the region of Île-de-France.
“As soon as his infection was suspected, this person was taken care of. In the absence of seriousness, he is isolated at his home”, specifies the ministry.
According to a report that was released by RIVM on Friday, there may be some instances of the monkeypox virus in the Netherlands. Currently, samples are being investigated in a laboratory. It is still unknown what the outcome of this will be.
This was not something that was ever supposed to take place.
Even though monkeypox is a relatively recent illness, occurrences have always been exceedingly uncommon, and a worldwide epidemic has always been thought to be highly improbable since it is so difficult to transmit monkeypox.
Has something changed?
This virus, according to a renowned infectious disease researcher Dr Amesh Adalja from John Hopkins University, “is spreading via physical touch,” and under some conditions, it is also capable of spreading “through respiratory droplets,” according to the Daily Mail.
It would be wise to keep an eye on this..
