More cases of monkeypox have been reported in the UK and Europe.
The recent cases have raised concern among health officials.
If a novel virus causes the disease, it could behave differently.
It is rare for Monkeypox to be spread between people.
In parts of west and central Africa where the virus is endemic, humans are most exposed to it through contact with wild animals, either via bites or scratches.
Monkeypox is very rare on other continents. Monkeypox has been reported in the US and Europe before in connection with travel to Africa or contact with animals.
The recent reports of monkeypox in the UK, Portugal, Spain, and the US have raised concerns among international health officials.
The first two cases of monkeypox in children in the US were confirmed by top health officials on Monday, one in a toddler in California and the other in an infant who is not a US resident.
"We do have a level of concern that this is very different than what we typically think of from monkeypox," said an expert in animal-to-human disease transmission.
When monkeypox gets into humans, it causes flu-like symptoms, including a red rash, and can lead to blisters.
The infections can be spread through direct contact with the skin. It can be transmitted on a blanket or bed sheet.
"All those legions are full of a ton of virus, and that virus is extremely stable, and that's what I mean by that," the CDC epidemiologist said. By nature, the virus is a double- stranded DNA virus.
Monkeypox can be washed off with bleach. Clinicians often wear gowns, gloves, eye protection, and face masks, but the disease is not so transmissible that people need to be wearing hazmat suits.
It's not like a place where you have wards full of people. You might see a few.
Monkeypox can be transmitted through face-to-face contact according to the CDC.
Large exhaled droplets can be used to spread the virus. The droplets that may carry monkeypox are larger than the coronaviruses particles that can float in the air. It's not possible for Monkeypox to travel as far.
Household members and healthcare workers are most likely to be affected by transmission by droplets. According to the WHO, there were six infections in a row.
The pattern of transmission overseas has left health officials with questions. Four people with monkeypox in the UK did not travel outside the country recently.
There are two clusters that are not related to travel or other people who have been associated with an outbreak. It shows that there are unknown chains of transmission.
In intimate contact is included in long face-to-face interactions.
The UK Health Security Agency mentioned the possibility of sexual transmission in its press briefings after identifying four men who had sex with men. There is a chance that the monkeypox virus can be transmitted in a sexual context. Sexualorientation has nothing to do with it.
According to a press release from Sweden's public health officials, the majority of the monkeypox patients reported in Europe have genitals that are exposed to the disease. Men who have sex with men may be more likely to transmit the virus to one another.
Some experts don't agree with the focus on sexuality being stigmatized. Men who are gay, bisexual, or otherwise sexually active with men are urged to contact a sexual health service if they notice something unusual.
Jimmy Whitworth is an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
To avoid air travel when you're sick, and be cautious around others if you think you're sick, is one of the best ways to go about it.
It's easy to spread monkeypox infections. The case of a monkeypox patient who was coming back from Nigeria to Texas in 2021. He didn't know he was sick, but he wore a mask on the plane and went to the hospital the next day when his rash spread to his face.
None of the people he came in contact with in the states caught the virus from him, including his fellow plane passengers, his friend who drove him to the hospital the next day, and his doctors and nurses.
"We would've liked it more if people who are ill were not allowed to board an airplane," he said. Everything that happened when that individual returned to the US really worked. It was all for the benefit of the patient and public health.
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