Sunday, 13 Oct, 2024
As of 14 July 2022, there have been 11,042 total cases from 50 countries/territories in five WHO Regions
India on Thursday reported its first case of monkeypox in Kerala. The infected person, a man, returned to the state from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) four days ago and was hospitalised after showing signs of the virus. The person’s samples were tested at the National Institute of Virology in Pune, which confirmed monkeypox.
What is monkeypox?
The virus was first found in monkeys in 1958, hence the name. It is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in forested parts of central and West Africa. The virus is transmitted through close contact with another infected person or animal, and spreads from lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
What are the key symptoms of monkeypox?
The WHO describes it as a 'self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from two to four weeks'. Monkeypox symptoms include fever, muscle ache, intense headaches, swollen lymph nodes, skin rashes or lesions, low energy and back pain. The virus can be fatal. There is no proven treatment for monkeypox yet.
How contagious is monkeypox?
Both the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus and the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that emerged in 2019 quickly spread to every region of the world. However, the Ebola virus by contrast was limited to just one region in the world. Monkeypox is somewhere between the two. As of 14 July 2022, there have been 11,042 total cases from 50 countries/territories in five WHO Regions.
Europe continues to remain the epicenter of the global outbreak. Spain has the highest case count with 2,447 confirmed cases. Germany and the UK are neck and neck with 1,790 and 1,789 cases, respectively while cases in France, Italy and Russia continue to rise. In United States, cases are up nearly 40 percent compared to last week. The country currently has 1,049 monkeypox infections, with approximately 76 cases per day on a moving average. Canada has also seen 60 percent jump in cases this month. Mexico has also seen a sudden surge in cases recently. More than 99 percent of the cases for which gender information was available were among men.
In December 2019, COVID-19 transitioned from a local concern in Wuhan, China, into the worst pandemic in a century. However, experts believe that is not going to happen with moneypox. Not only is the virus less contagious, but also the case fatality rate is low. The case fatality rate during the current international outbreak is less than one death for every 1,000 adult cases.
