Monkeypox Cases Start To Rise Around World As Disease Now Detected In At Least 12 Countries

The number of confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox topped more than 100 over the weekend as the disease has now spread throughout Europe, North America, and Australia.

As of Saturday, “92 laboratory confirmed cases, and 28 suspected cases of monkeypox with investigations ongoing, have been reported to WHO from 12 Member States that are not endemic for monkeypox virus,” the World Health Organization said in a statement.

“Reported cases thus far have no established travel links to an endemic area,” the statement said. “Based on currently available information, cases have mainly but not exclusively been identified amongst men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking care in primary care and sexual health clinics.”

The organization said that the discovery of confirmed cases of monkeypox in individuals with “no direct travel links to an endemic area represents a highly unusual event.”

Monkeypox has now been detected in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Monkeypox endemic countries include Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana (in animals), Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan.

“Surveillance to date in non-endemic areas has been limited, but is now expanding,” the press release noted, adding that the organization expects that more cases will be reported in the non-endemic nations.  “Available information suggests that human-to-human transmission is occurring among people in close physical contact with cases who are symptomatic.”

Symptoms of monkeypox are similar to smallpox, although less severe. There are two strains of the virus: the West African strain and the Congo Basin (Central African) strain, which respectively have a 3.6% and 10.6% fatality rate. The incubation period for the virus can range from 5 to 21 days.

Democrat President Joe Biden addressed the continuing spread of the virus in remarks to reporters on Sunday, saying that people should be worried.

“They haven’t told me the level of exposure yet, but it is something that everybody should be concerned about,” Biden said. “We’re working on it hard to figure out what we do and what vaccine may be available.”

He added, “But it is a concern in the sense that if it were to spread it would be consequential.”

Symptoms of the suspected cases of monkeypox in non-endemic countries include an unexplained acute rash with at least of one of the following symptoms: Headache, acute onset of fever, swollen lymph nodes, body aches, back pain, or profound weakness.