London - Scientists monitoring numerous outbreaks of monkeypox in Africa say they are baffled by the disease’s spread in Europe and North America.
Cases of the smallpox-related disease were previously seen only among people with links to central and West Africa. This has changed in the past week with Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, U.S., Sweden and Canada reporting infections, mostly in young men who have not travelled to Africa.
WHO said that there are about 80 confirmed cases worldwide and 50 more suspected ones. France, Germany, Belgium and Australia reported their first cases Friday.
“I’m stunned by this. Every day I wake up and there are more countries infected,” said Oyewale Tomori, a virologist who formerly headed the Nigerian Academy of Science and who sits on several WHO advisory boards.
“This is not the kind of spread we’ve seen in West Africa, so there may be something new happening in the West,” he said.
Scientists said that it’s possible the outbreak’s first patient caught the disease while in Africa, what’s happening now is exceptional.
No one has died in the outbreak to date. Monkeypox causes fever, chills, rash and lesions on the face or genitals. WHO says the disease is fatal for up to one in 10 people. Smallpox vaccines offer protection, and some antiviral drugs are being developed. The Health Organisation also tweeted a Q&A on the disease ahead of its 75th World Health Assembly to be held from 22nd to 18th May.
Nigeria reports about 3,000 monkeypox cases a year, WHO said. Outbreaks are usually in rural areas, when people have close contact with infected rats and squirrels, Tomori said, many cases are likely missed.
WHO’s Europe director, Dr. Hans Kluge, described the outbreak as “atypical,” saying the disease’s appearance in so many countries across the continent suggested that “transmission has been ongoing for some time.” He said most of the European cases are mild.
In Germany, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the government was confident the outbreak could be contained. He said the virus was being sequenced to see if there were any genetic changes that might have made it more infectious.
“We’ve never seen anything like what’s happening in Europe,” said Christian Happi, director of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases. “We haven’t seen anything to say that the transmission patterns of monkeypox have been changing in Africa. So if something different is happening in Europe, then Europe needs to investigate that.”
-AP