“We are working closely with various countries to analyze why this virus is now traveling more frequently,” said Lewis, who also considered the high number of cases recorded in urban areas anomalous for a disease that usually occurs in rural settings.
The expert Andy Seale, from the WHO department of sexually transmitted diseases, added that this monkeypox is not one of them, “nor is it a disease linked to the gay community, as some have claimed on social networks, because anyone can get it by contact.
“It is a disease that is spread by close contact, not necessarily sexual,” insisted the expert.
The head of the WHO anticovid technical unit, Maria Van Kerkhove, added that it is likely that with the increased tracking of cases they will increase in the coming days, but assured that the situation “can be contained” and recalled that most of the Patients do not show severe symptoms.
The information session recalled that these symptoms can include fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, muscle fatigue and skin rashes on the face, hands, feet, eyes or genitals.
Given the possibility that the virus is a variation of the one usually detected in Africa, where cases have been known for at least 40 years, Lewis affirmed that it is a large virus that in general “is stable and does not tend to have mutations” .
The experts recalled that the vaccine against conventional smallpox, a more serious disease that for centuries caused great mortality on the planet, proved to be 85% effective against monkeypox.
Monkeypox: what are the symptoms and how is it spread?
However, most of the younger generations are not vaccinated against smallpox, which was considered globally eradicated four decades ago, thus halting their immunization campaigns.