There was confusion this week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed a recommendation for travelers to wear face masks in order to protect against monkeypox.

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The CDC no longer recommends masks for travelers to areas with monkeypox epidemics.

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Monkeypox doesn't spread easily between people and can be spread through close contact with objects that have been contaminated with an infectious disease.

It can be transmitted via respiratory droplets, the kind of large particles produced when people breathe, talk, cough or sneeze.

The respiratory droplets do not travel very far and fall to the ground quickly.

It is not known whether or not monkeypox can be transmitted via aerosol, a mode of transmission that is often used to designate a disease as "airborne."

Many people use the term "unhelpful" and it is possible that short-range aerosols could transmit monkeypox.

He said that more research would be needed to know if long-range aerosol transmission is possible.

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Monkeypox can be transmitted sexually. The majority of the monkeypox cases identified in Europe and the U.K. have been among gay or bisexual men who have sex with other gay or bisexual men. The pattern of the virus has scientists wondering if other modes of transmission were involved and experts caution against stigmatizing members of the community. The risk from monkeypox is not limited to men who have sex with men, experts say. Health officials searching for more cases within this group, members of the community being more proactive about their sexual health, and the disease spreading through sexual and social networks are all possibilities. The monkeypox virus was found in the semen of several patients, suggesting that it may be possible to have sex with it. It will be necessary to conduct further research to determine if this is true. He said it was not clear how the virus came to be in the seminal fluid.

The CDC encouraged travelers to practice enhanced precautions after raising its alert on monkeypox to Level 2. Those traveling to areas with a monkeypox outbreak should avoid contact with sick people, contaminated materials and wild animals. The recommendation that travelers wear masks to protect against monkeypox was quietly removed by the agency. The agency recommends face masks and other protective gear for those who may be in close contact with a confirmed monkeypox patient. The masks are part of a standard set of protective equipment for dealing with diseases like monkeypox. They said that masks may not be useful in protecting against monkeypox on their own. Adler said wearing masks doesn't make sense given the low risk of the general public coming into contact with a person with monkeypox. The debate over masks is similar to discussions going on around the world with other emerging infections and is influenced by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Big Number

Forty five. The number of confirmed monkeypox cases in the U.S. is calculated by the CDC. According to public health data compiled by Global.Health, more than 1,300 cases have been confirmed in 30 countries outside of Africa. In Europe, the U.K., Spain, Portugal, and Germany have the highest number of cases. There are more suspected cases.

Tangent

If the conditions are right, orthopoxviruses can live for weeks or months in shed skin and dust. It's possible that contaminated bedding or towels used by monkeypox patients could pose a long-term risk of infections. There's a chance that changing the bed of a person with an illness could expose them to a risk of infections.

What To Watch For

The monkeypox is getting a foothold. Monkeypox has been circulating in parts of Central and Western Africa for a long time. It is usually mild and goes away on its own in a month or so, though it can be lethal and is more dangerous for children and pregnant people. The sudden appearance of monkeypox in multiple countries at once suggests it may have been circulating undetected in non-endemic countries for some time, according to experts. Tedros warned there is a risk of the virus becoming established in non-endemic countries as he said it is not too late to contain the outbreak. It is possible that the virus could spread to wild animal populations and gain a foothold outside of Africa. According to Matthew Aliota of the University of Minnesota, rodents are the most likely source of the disease in the U.S.

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