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LONDON (AP) — Scientists who have monitored numerous monkeypox outbreaks in Africa say they are baffled by the disease's recent spread in Europe and North America.
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Cases of the smallpox-related disease haven't previously been seen among people with no links to central and West Africa.
But in the past week, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United States, Sweden, and Canada have all reported infections, mostly in young men who hadn't traveled to Africa.
On Wednesday, health officials in Massachusetts reported a case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada.
They said the Massachusetts resident's case poses no risk to the public.
Health officials said the man was hospitalized but was in good condition.
On Friday, France, Germany, Belgium, and Australia all confirmed their first cases of monkeypox.
One of the theories British health officials are exploring is whether the disease is being sexually transmitted.
Monkeypox and smallpox are part of the same family of viruses.
https://www.kxxv.com/news/national/african-scientists-baffled-by-monkeypox-cases-in-europe-us
The United States confirmed a case of monkeypox infection on Wednesday in a man with recent travel to Canada. It is not yet clear if the man, who lives in Massachusetts, is connected to the growing outbreak of monkeypox cases in Europe.
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The case was announced in a statement Massachusetts public health officials confirm case of monkeypox posted to the website of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Earlier in the day, an official of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cases in this country were likely to begin to be detected.
"Given that we have seen now confirmed cases out of Portugal, suspected cases out of Spain, we're seeing this expansion of confirmed and suspect cases globally, we have a sense that no one has their arms around this to know how large and expansive it might be. And given how much travel there is between the United States and Europe, I am very confident we're going to see cases in the United States," said Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC's division of high consequence pathogens and pathology.
The development adds the United States and possibly Canada to a growing list of countries reporting monkeypox cases in an outbreak CDC expresses concern about possibility of undetected monkeypox spread in U.K. first spotted in the United Kingdom. The Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement late Wednesday that no cases have been reported at this time.
Maria Van Kerkhove, who leads the emerging diseases and zoonoses unit in the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Program, said Spain has now confirmed some cases and other countries will join this list.
"We have had positive cases identified in the U.K., Portugal, and Spain. And we expect there will be others," Van Kerkhove told STAT on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day Spain announced that it was investigating eight suspected cases, and Portugal said it was investigating more than 20 suspected cases, five of which have already been confirmed. It is not currently clear if the outbreaks are linked to each other or to the one in the U.K., where nine confirmed and one probable case have been reported.
If they are connected, it is not yet known if the virus spread from the U.K. to Europe, or the reverse. Nor is it known how long the virus has been spreading in these countries. "Clearly it's been going on for a few weeks," said Van Kerkhove.
Most of the cases have been detected in men who are gay, bisexual, or are men who have sex with men, she confirmed, but cautioned against over-focusing on that fact.
"We're finding where we're looking," Van Kerkhove said, noting that countries have been contacting sexual health clinics asking about patients with unusual rashes. It is important that other health care providers in other settings — general practitioners, dermatologists, and others — are aware of the possibility they might see monkeypox cases so that if the virus is spreading more broadly, they take adequate precautions and those cases aren't missed.
The details that have come to light so far raise the prospect of an outbreak that is even more geographically widespread, said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy.
"There could be dynamic transmission here that we just haven't appreciated because of the potential number of contacts," he said, adding it will be important to collect information about how much intimate contact patients have had and where those contacts may have come from.
Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said a number of countries outside Central and West Africa, where monkeypox is more common, have experience coping with introductions of the virus, so there is a possibility that the outbreaks will be "relatively small."
"I think that's still probable, given the past," Inglesby told STAT. "But on the other hand, this is starting off with much more of a foothold, in a much more distributed way, and we don't understand how it got … into those networks."
U.S. monkeypox case reported, as Spain, Portugal report infections in growing outbreak
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... Cases of the smallpox-related disease haven't previously been seen among people with no links to central and West Africa.
But in the past week, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United States, Sweden, and Canada have all reported infections, mostly in young men who hadn't traveled to Africa.
On Wednesday, health officials in Massachusetts reported a case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada.
They said the Massachusetts resident's case poses no risk to the public.
Health officials said the man was hospitalized but was in good condition.
On Friday, France, Germany, Belgium, and Australia all confirmed their first cases of monkeypox.
One of the theories British health officials are exploring is whether the disease is being sexually transmitted.
Monkeypox and smallpox are part of the same family of viruses.
https://www.kxxv.com/news/national/african-scientists-baffled-by-monkeypox-cases-in-europe-us
The United States confirmed a case of monkeypox infection on Wednesday in a man with recent travel to Canada. It is not yet clear if the man, who lives in Massachusetts, is connected to the growing outbreak of monkeypox cases in Europe.
...
... The case was announced in a statement Massachusetts public health officials confirm case of monkeypox posted to the website of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Earlier in the day, an official of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cases in this country were likely to begin to be detected.
"Given that we have seen now confirmed cases out of Portugal, suspected cases out of Spain, we're seeing this expansion of confirmed and suspect cases globally, we have a sense that no one has their arms around this to know how large and expansive it might be. And given how much travel there is between the United States and Europe, I am very confident we're going to see cases in the United States," said Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC's division of high consequence pathogens and pathology.
The development adds the United States and possibly Canada to a growing list of countries reporting monkeypox cases in an outbreak CDC expresses concern about possibility of undetected monkeypox spread in U.K. first spotted in the United Kingdom. The Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement late Wednesday that no cases have been reported at this time.
Maria Van Kerkhove, who leads the emerging diseases and zoonoses unit in the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Program, said Spain has now confirmed some cases and other countries will join this list.
"We have had positive cases identified in the U.K., Portugal, and Spain. And we expect there will be others," Van Kerkhove told STAT on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day Spain announced that it was investigating eight suspected cases, and Portugal said it was investigating more than 20 suspected cases, five of which have already been confirmed. It is not currently clear if the outbreaks are linked to each other or to the one in the U.K., where nine confirmed and one probable case have been reported.
If they are connected, it is not yet known if the virus spread from the U.K. to Europe, or the reverse. Nor is it known how long the virus has been spreading in these countries. "Clearly it's been going on for a few weeks," said Van Kerkhove.
Most of the cases have been detected in men who are gay, bisexual, or are men who have sex with men, she confirmed, but cautioned against over-focusing on that fact.
"We're finding where we're looking," Van Kerkhove said, noting that countries have been contacting sexual health clinics asking about patients with unusual rashes. It is important that other health care providers in other settings — general practitioners, dermatologists, and others — are aware of the possibility they might see monkeypox cases so that if the virus is spreading more broadly, they take adequate precautions and those cases aren't missed.
The details that have come to light so far raise the prospect of an outbreak that is even more geographically widespread, said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy.
"There could be dynamic transmission here that we just haven't appreciated because of the potential number of contacts," he said, adding it will be important to collect information about how much intimate contact patients have had and where those contacts may have come from.
Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said a number of countries outside Central and West Africa, where monkeypox is more common, have experience coping with introductions of the virus, so there is a possibility that the outbreaks will be "relatively small."
"I think that's still probable, given the past," Inglesby told STAT. "But on the other hand, this is starting off with much more of a foothold, in a much more distributed way, and we don't understand how it got … into those networks."
U.S. monkeypox case reported, as Spain, Portugal report infections in growing outbreak
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