After Britain, the monkeypox virus is now spreading in America as well. Its infection has been confirmed on Wednesday in a person who returned from Canada to Massachusetts. This is the first case of monkey pox in America this year. Significantly, in the last few days, dozens of cases of this rare disease have also been reported in Britain, Spain, Portugal and Canada.
Monkey pox was first detected in a monkey in 1970, after which it spread to 10 African countries.
Monkey pox is caused by a virus that is a member of the smallpox virus family. Its cases were first reported in the US in 2003. Nigeria had the largest outbreak of monkeypox in 2017, with 75% of its patients being male. Its cases were first reported in the UK in 2018.
According to experts, this disease is definitely rare, but can also prove to be serious. At present, monkeypox is found mostly in some areas of Central and West African countries. On May 6, the first patient found in Britain had returned from Nigeria.
Experts believe that monkeypox spreads through close contact with an infected person. This virus enters the body through the eyes, nose and mouth after coming out of the patient’s wound. It can also be spread by animals such as infected monkeys, dogs and squirrels, or through bedding and clothing that has come in contact with the patient. The patient can suffer from monkeypox for 7 to 21 days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) team has also swung into action after receiving 40 cases of monkeypox in Spain, Portugal and 9 in Britain. The agency is also investigating the infection of this virus in homosexual patients. At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is doing contact tracing to identify potential patients. Health experts believe that there is no possibility of a major outbreak of monkeypox at the moment.
