Scientists are calm

Scientists don’t expect monkeypox to turn into an epidemic like Covid-19. WHO data also show that vaccines used to eradicate smallpox are up to 85% effective against the monkeypox virus. Some countries offer this vaccine to those who want it for now.

Gay and bisexual individuals

On the other hand, information from Europe and the UK shows that the virus is circulating mainly among “gay and bisexual individuals”. The British Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) has shared information that the latest cases of monkeypox virus are predominantly among gay and bisexual individuals. It was claimed that patients’ conditions in Madrid had improved and it was informed that most of the cases were transmitted through sexual intercourse between homosexuals. In Canada, the researchers explained that some of the suspected cases centered on the possibility that the virus was transmitted through homosexual intercourse.

Smallpox vaccines are up to 85% effective

While the possibility of monkeypox cases spreading to other countries and turning into a global epidemic is being discussed, it is also investigating whether there is an effective vaccine against the risk of death from the virus. On the matter, the British Health Safety Agency shared the information that there is no specific vaccine for monkeypox virus, but the smallpox vaccine does provide some protection and that the vaccine is offered to those who they need it.

The Monkey Flower World Tour

Monkeypox virus, which came out of Africa again months after it was last seen in the United States in November 2021, was first detected in the United Kingdom on 7 May, in a person who had traveled to Nigeria before then. While monkeypox cases in the country increased in the following days, the total number of cases increased to 9 as of May 18. The British Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) reported that the new cases have no travel link to a country where the virus is endemic, so it is possible that people are infected through transmission. UKHSA announced that one of the new cases was detected in the capital, London, and the other in the south-east of the country. The number of cases in the country has reached 20.

In Spain, where the virus spread after England, there are currently 7 confirmed and 24 suspected cases of monkeypox, according to data from the Ministry of Health. Although all cases were observed in Madrid, the patients’ health was reported to have improved. Information from Spain claimed that most of them had been transmitted through sexual intercourse between homosexuals. On May 17, Portugal announced that 5 people had the monkeypox virus.

The first case in Italy was seen in a person from Spain, the Canary Islands. While the number of cases has reached three, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) has created a special task force of experts to monitor the situation in the country.

The country where the monkeypox virus was last seen on the continent was Sweden. In the capital Stockholm it was announced that a person infected with the virus was hospitalized and his condition was good. Outside of Europe, the virus has been seen in the United States and Canada in the Americas. In a statement released yesterday by the Canadian government, it was recorded that there were 17 suspected cases in the Montreal region of the country. The US State of Massachusetts Public Health Unit also announced on May 18 that a person traveling to Canada was infected.

History of the virus

Monkeypox is a virus that originates from wild animals such as rodents and primates and sometimes spreads to humans. Most human cases have been observed in central and western Africa, where the disease is endemic. The disease was first described by scientists in 1958, when there were two outbreaks of “smallpox-like” diseases in research monkeys. That is why it has been called the “monkey flower”. The first known human infection occurred in 1970 in a 9-year-old boy in a remote area of ​​the Congo.

Monkeypox, known as one of the rare diseases caused by an endemic virus, is split in two as a Congo and West African species. It is known that the Congo-type virus has a mortality risk of up to 10%, while the West African strain has a mortality rate of 1% in one of every 2 cases.

The virus, which was first found in monkeys in 1958, was first recorded among humans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. The virus, which quickly spread to 11 African countries, was first seen outside of Africa in the United States in 2003. Subsequently, in the United Kingdom and Israel in 2018, in Singapore in 2019 and in the United States in 2021, the monkeypox virus was found in some people who went to Africa. The virus, which has been the most effective in Africa so far, caused the largest outbreak in Nigeria in 2017, as 200 people were infected in the country and 3% of cases died.