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Countries across Europe and North America, as well as Australia, have been battling what one epidemiology expert has called “the most important outbreak in the history of monkeypox in the Western Hemisphere”.

Monkeypox is typically a virus confined to central and western Africa and is considered endemic in 11 African nations.

Anne Rimoin, a professor studying the spread of diseases at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said that the last time the global West saw an outbreak like this was in 2003 when 47 cases were found in the US.

Currently, France, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Israel, UK, Argentina, US, Canada, and Australia have all reported a case or cases of monkeypox.

According to The Guardian, the World Health Organisation is said to have received 92 reports of laboratory-confirmed monkeypox cases and 28 suspected cases from countries where the disease is not endemic as of May 21.

As it stands, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that this seems to be an “emerging issue”, per NBC News:

“What we’re facing right now seems to be at least a subset of cases that don’t have any history of travel to one of those countries in Africa where the monkeypox virus naturally occurs, and also don’t report any exposure to someone who has been diagnosed with monkeypox. So what we’re seeing right now is unusual,” said Dr. Agam Rao, a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.

“We are telling people this is an emerging issue,” she said. “Some emerging issues end up becoming benign in the end. Other ones escalate. As an emerging issue, we’re asking people to keep it top of mind at the moment.”

Meanwhile, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is calling out Western media’s reporting of the issue:

UNAIDS said “a significant proportion” of recent monkeypox cases have been identified among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

But transmission was most likely via close physical contact with a monkeypox sufferer and could affect anyone, it added, saying some portrayals of Africans and LGBTI people “reinforce homophobic and racist stereotypes and exacerbate stigma”.

By exacerbating stigma, the authorities are only undermining a quick and effective response to the growing outbreak:

“Stigma and blame undermine trust and capacity to respond effectively during outbreaks like this one,” said the UNAIDS deputy executive director, Matthew Kavanagh.

“Experience shows that stigmatising rhetoric can quickly disable evidence-based response by stoking cycles of fear, driving people away from health services, impeding efforts to identify cases and encouraging ineffective, punitive measures.”

Monkeypox falls under the poxviruses family, which includes smallpox, and is spread by either being in contact with infected animals or through person-to-person transmission from respiratory droplets in the air.

While monkeypox is not considered a sexually transmitted infection, it can be spread during sex where direct contact with bodily fluids is highly likely, as well as through infected bedding and clothes.

The virus typically manifests with flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion, followed by a chickenpox-like rash on the face or other parts of the body within one to three days of the fever.

Even though there’s no particular treatment – besides the possibility of a smallpox vaccine working – most people recover after two to four weeks.

There’s no need to panic, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.

[sources:guardian&nbcnews]