The World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency due to the monkeypox outbreak.
The WHO now considers the outbreak to be a significant enough threat to global health that a coordinated international response is needed to prevent it from spreading further and possibly escalating into a Pandemic.
The declaration doesn't impose requirements on national governments but it is an urgent call for action. Guidance and recommendations from the WHO can only be given to its members. The member states are required to report threats to global health.
A global emergency in response to monkeypox was not declared by the U.N. The head of the WHO issued the highest alert due to an increase in infections.
More than 16,000 cases of monkeypox infections have been reported across 75 countries so far this year, and the number of confirmed infections rose from June through July. Men who have sex with men are more likely to get an STD.
There have been five deaths from the virus this year. There have been no deaths in Africa.
Most people recover from monkeypox in two to four weeks. A rash can be caused by the virus. The people who have caught the virus said the rash can be very painful.
The current outbreak of monkeypox is not usually found in North America and Europe. Monkeypox has been spread in parts of West and Central Africa where rodents and other animals carry it.
Europe is currently the epicenter of the outbreak, with more than 80% of confirmed infections in the next four years. More than 2000 cases have been reported in the U.S.
The UK reported a case of monkeypox in a person who recently returned from Nigeria. Three more cases of monkeypox were reported in the U.K. several days after. Canada and the US began to confirm cases. It's not clear where the outbreak started.
In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the WHO issued a global health emergency in January 2020 and two months later declared it a Pandemic. The term "pandemic" is not defined by the WHO because it does not have an official process to make a declaration. The agency declared Covid a Pandemic in 2020 in order to warn governments about the seriousness of the disease.
In May, the WHO's lead expert on monkeypox told reporters that the UN wasn't concerned about a global epidemic. She said there was a chance to contain the outbreak.
The infectious disease experts are concerned that the health authorities have failed to contain the outbreak and that monkeypox will take root in countries where it wasn't previously found.
Monkeypox is not a new disease. The first case of a human with monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was confirmed in 1970 after scientists discovered the disease in captive monkeys.
There is a milder form of monkeypox that is in the same family of Viruses. The World Health Organization and national health agencies have a long history of fighting diseases. Health officials will have important knowledge to combat monkeypox as a result of the fight against the disease.
The transmission of monkeypox between people was rare in the past. Monkeypox is now being spread more efficiently. The international community didn't invest enough in the fight against monkeypox in Africa before the global outbreak, according to the World Health Organization.
Mike Ryan, head of the WHO's health emergencies program, said that the WHO doesn't fully understand what's driving the transmission in Africa. There is more investigation to be done and more investment to be made to understand that problem.
Skin-to-skin contact is how monkeypox is spread. Most of the transmission of STDs in the gay community has occurred with men who have sex with men. Anyone can catch monkeypox regardless of sexual orientation according to the WHO.
99% of cases reported outside Africa are among men and 98% of infections are among men who have sex with men, according to Lewis. The gay community has not been affected by the virus yet. Two children were diagnosed with monkeypox on Friday.
The WHO and CDC have warned against stigmatizing gay and bisexual men, while at the same time emphasizing the importance of communicating the reality of how the virus is currently spreading so people in communities at highest risk can take action to protect their health.
Lewis said that people want the information to know how to protect themselves. She said it was important for health agencies and community organizers to spread information on how to reduce the risk of infections.
Scientists in Spain and Italy were able to detect monkeypox virus in semen from positive patients, but it is not known if the virus can be spread through sex. Scientists from Spain detected monkeypox in saliva samples.
It is not clear if the virus can spread when people don't have any symptoms.
It is recommended by the U.S. CDC that people avoid intimate physical contact with people who have a rash that looks like monkeypox. Sex parties where people aren't wearing a lot of clothing should be avoided by people.
The CDC says that people who decide to have sex with a partner with monkeypox should follow the agency's advice.
The symptoms of monkeypox used to be similar to the flu. A rash can be spread by the disease. The most infectious patients are those who develop a rash.
In the current outbreak, the symptoms have been different. Some people are showing a rash, while others are not. A lot of patients have a rash on their genitals.
The rash is easily confused with STDs, according to the CDC and WHO. If a patient tests positive for a sexually transmitted disease, they should not be ruled out for monkeypox.
The method of spreading monkeypox requires long face-to-face interactions according to the CDC. The health officials don't think monkeypox is spreading through aerosols. Respiratory droplets are heavier so they don't stay airborne for as long.
There is a chance that Monkeypox can be spread through bedsheets and clothing.
The disease is not transmissible. It is a disease that can be contained. Don't be the person to pass this disease on.
There are already vaccines and antivirals that can be used to prevent and treat monkeypox, but they are in short supply. The U.S. is giving out tens of thousands of vaccine doses in order to stop the outbreak. The two-dose vaccine was approved by the FDA for adults who are at high risk of monkeypox.
More than 300,000 Jynneos doses have been distributed by the Biden administration and another 786,000 are being delivered to the US.
Long lines are common in places such as New York City because of the shortage of monkeypox vaccine in the U.S.
Jynneos is a product manufactured by a company in Europe. Up to 5 million doses can be found for the rest of the world, according to a company spokesman. The company has the ability to fill 40 million liquid frozen and 8 million freeze dried doses annually.
The U.S. has more than 100 million doses of the ACAM2000 vaccine, made by Emergent BioSolutions, which is likely to prevent monkeypox. ACAM2000 is not recommended for people with weak immune systems, like HIV patients, people with certain skin conditions and pregnant women.
ACAM2000 uses a mild virus strain in the same family as monkeypox to give immunity. People who receive ACAM2000 have to take precautions to make sure they don't spread the virus to others or get a rash from the injection site, because the vaccine's mild strain can replicate. The Jynneos vaccine doesn't use a replicating virus strain, that's why it doesn't have this risk.
According to the CDC, there is no data on the effectiveness of the vaccine against monkeypox.
The World Health Organization does not recommend mass vaccinations at the moment, and the U.S.reserves the vaccines for people who have been exposed to the disease. The vaccine against monkeypox can be given after exposure to the viruses. The best chance of preventing the disease is if the vaccine is given within four days of exposure.
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