Health chiefs announced Tuesday evening that as the number rises to 18 in the US, Georgia is the ninth state to detect a monkeypox infection.
Three more cases have been observed in the same number of states nationwide in the past 24 hours.
They contained infections in Georgia, a man from Atlanta with a “history of international travel,” and a quarter in New York.
In California, health chiefs said their third case was also in Sacramento, where they had “close contact” with the first patient diagnosed after returning from Europe.
Most cases in America were discovered among gay and bisexual men, and health chiefs often attributed them to international travel.
But now there are growing signs that the virus has spread on US soil for the first time since at least 2003, and infections have been detected in “close contact” of cases.
To limit the spread, Dr. Hans Kluge, from the WHO’s European division, on Wednesday urged people to reduce the number of sexual contacts and warned that the virus could be difficult to contain.
Global health leaders were stunned by the outbreak outside of its origin in West Africa, with the virus now detected in more than two dozen countries, with 600 confirmed infections, 70% of which were in Europe.
Today, Georgia became the ninth state to report monkeypox in the outbreak. A fourth case was reported in New York and a third in California who had “close contact” with a previous infection.
Reduce number of sexual partners to combat monkeypox, urges World Health Organization
The World Health Organization said people should reduce the number of sexual partners to help combat the spread of monkeypox.
Dr. Hans Kluge, head of the WHO European branch, warned that the current epidemic of tropical disease “may not be manageable”.
Europe has warned that the epidemic linked to sexual transmission at festivities and festivals across the continent has become the new epicenter of the virus.
Dr. Kluge insisted the virus “will not require the same broad demographic measures” as Covid, but said “important and urgent” action is needed to prevent further cases.
WHO did not want quarantined contacts of known cases, but asked for “critical” temperature checks and “close monitoring” twice a day.
Dr. Kluge said the cases focused on men who had sex with men, but there was nothing to prevent this from spreading to other groups.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed three additional cases in its daily Monkeypox dashboard update.
Monkeypox is native to West Africa and is usually spread through infectious skin lesions that come into physical contact and can appear anywhere on the body.
Patients develop fever within 21 days of infection before developing a facial rash that spreads to other areas and develops painful skin lesions.
Most cases are mild and go away on their own. But some get serious, with the mortality rate of the species currently circulating in the Americas around one in 100.
Doctors currently offer patients antibiotics to help treat infections.
A smallpox vaccine believed to work against its closest relative, monkey disease, is also in stock to boost immunity in close contact with patients.
The US has so far detected a total of 18 cases.
New York has more with four infections, followed by California and Florida, which both discovered three cases.
Two have been spotted in Colorado and Utah, and one in Georgia, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington.
Most cases involve gay and bisexual men and can be traced back to international travel to areas where the disease is currently raging.
But health leaders warn that if the virus continues to spread undetected, it could spread to other populations.
Kluge warned Europe, where the outbreak was most severe, on Wednesday, saying that “important and urgent” action is needed to contain the virus, though not on the scale needed for Covid.
The chief did not call for quarantine of contacts of known cases, but said twice-daily temperature checks and careful monitoring were “critical”.
Earlier this week, WHO raised the global threat level to “moderate” and warned that community spread could lead to the transmission of the virus to sensitive patients or children, which is also spread through touch or interaction with contaminated surfaces or clothing.
Experts had previously linked the outbreak to two festivals in Europe: the Gran Canarian Pride Festival, held from May 5-15, and a large-scale fetish festival held from May 5-8 in Antwerp.
The number of cases is rising as America prepares for the nationwide Pride Parade this month.
But a WHO advisor said the risk of contracting the virus was not “increased” during these events during the outbreak.
On Monday, Andy Seale of the WHO Division of HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Diseases said the risk of contracting the virus during the pride parades was not “increased”.
He added that condoms do not prevent someone from getting infected, because skin lesions where the virus spreads open all over the body.
Health leaders in the UK are telling people suffering from symptoms of the virus, such as a rash, that they should avoid sex and avoid physical contact.
After a person has recovered from the infection, it is recommended to wear a condom for eight weeks as a precaution. There is no evidence that it is spread through sperm.
Seale told the conference: “From our perspective, we want to send a message that it’s important that people who want to go out and celebrate LGBTQ+ gay pride continue to do so.
“Many of these activities are outdoors, suitable for families.
“In this context, we see no reason to worry about the possibility of a greater displacement, because the parts we’re examining are in tighter spaces etc.”
At the briefing, Seale also warned that wearing a condom would not be enough to prevent the spread of the virus.
We should not hesitate to remind people that it is still useful to talk about condoms, for example, to protect people from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
“But for monkeypox, condoms do not provide an extra layer of protection as the main risk factor is close physical contact.”
Source: Daily Mail
I am Anne Johnson and I work as an author at the Fashion Vibes. My main area of expertise is beauty related news, but I also have experience in covering other types of stories like entertainment, lifestyle, and health topics. With my years of experience in writing for various publications, I have built strong relationships with many industry insiders. My passion for journalism has enabled me to stay on top of the latest trends and changes in the world of beauty.