The monkeypox outbreak is “unlikely” to become a pandemic like Covid-19, despite its rapid spread over the past month, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
“We do not believe that this outbreak will lead to the start of a new pandemic because it is a known virus, we have the tools to control it and our experience tells us that it is not as easily transmitted in humans as in animals,” said the smallpox specialist at WHO Rosamund Lewis.
So far, since the UK reported the first confirmed case of monkeypox on the 7th, the WHO has received reports of a total of 257 laboratory-confirmed cases and around 120 suspected cases in 23 countries.
In Spain, 98 cases have been confirmed so far, according to the Ministry of Health last Friday.
Rosamund Lewis warned that while the risk of posing a serious public health problem is low, the situation is “unusual” because the virus is spreading rapidly in countries where it is not endemic (it is only endemic in Central and West African countries). .
Therefore, he asked the authorities to work together with the WHO to apply the necessary measures to help contain the outbreak.
The expert stated that of the 257 confirmed cases, none are related to travel to countries where this type of smallpox is endemic and, therefore, they continue to study the origin of the outbreak.
Regarding the transmission of this disease – whose main symptoms are fever, muscle pain, tiredness and small skin rashes – preliminary studies indicate that the main routes of infection are close contact with wounds, body fluids and contaminated materials, such as clothes or cutlery from an infected person.
To date, there is no evidence that infected breastfeeding mothers carry the virus in their milk, although there is a high risk of infecting the baby while breastfeeding because close skin-to-skin contact is required, Lewis said.
She added that there is a high probability of transmission of the virus through the mouth, where highly infectious ulcers are concentrated.
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