Health officials in Europe, North America and Australia have begun investigating monkeypox outbreaks, raising concerns that a wider outbreak of viral infections may be ongoing in the West.
At the time of writing, monkeypox has been reported in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Of these, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom have identified the most cases, while others have identified only single-digit cases.
The CDC has issued “Intensive Health Measures” recommendations for the United Kingdom, including contact tracing, case search, rash monitoring, and isolation of individuals suspected of having the disease.
The monkeypox virus was first reported in experimental monkeys in 1958, and the first human case was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. The disease is usually confined to Africa’s hometown, with sporadic cases reported in recent years among individuals traveling from Africa to the United States or Europe, but the prevalence of monkeypox in the west is precedent. In Europe, there is no suggestion that the virus has settled.
Symptoms include fever, body aches, and rashes. Although associated with the smallpox virus, the symptoms of monkeypox are usually less severe. The latter is particularly distinguished from smallpox by the swollen lymph nodes during the symptomatic stage of the virus, which appears just before the swelling of the rash that spreads to the inside of the mouth and limbs.
Since the infection occurs primarily through large aerial saliva droplets, it requires prolonged exposure to the infected person for the infection to spread.
A 1971 photo from the Center For Disease Control handout shows a monkeypox-like lesion on the arm and leg of a girl in Bondua, Liberia. (CDC / Getty Images)A monkeypox virus vaccine already exists, and the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, which is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, decided to administer the dose on May 18, after discovering the first case in Massachusetts. Moved to secure.
In a statement, Danish biotechnology company Bavarian Nordic, a manufacturer of Jynneos smallpox vaccine, said the United States “exercised its first option under a contract to supply a lyophilized version of the vaccine” in 2023 and 2024. .. Freeze-drying provides a longer shelf life.
Paul Chaplin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bayern Nordic, said: