Monkeypox is an endemic in 11 countries in West and Central Africa.
The European Union's disease agency that the number of monkeypox cases has reached 219 outside of countries where the virus usually circulates. The World Health Organisation has warned of more cases in coming days.
Here are 10 things we know about the Monkeypox outbreak:
- Monkeypox, which is a less severe disease than its cousin smallpox, is an endemic in 11 countries in West and Central Africa.
- The virus was discovered in 1958 in monkeys kept for research. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970.
- The World Health Organization has cautioned that the 200 monkeypox cases found in recent weeks outside of countries where it is an endemic could be just the beginning. "We know that we will have more cases in the coming days," Sylvie Briand, WHO's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention chief, acknowledged in a briefing to countries on the "unusual" spread of the virus.
- Health agencies have said that most of the cases were detected in gay men.
- The UK reported its first monkeypox case in early May. Since then, the virus has spread rapidly in the country with the infection count now at 90.
- Spain has reported 98 confirmed cases of monkeypox so far.
- Portugal has meanwhile registered 74 confirmed cases, health authorities said Friday, adding that all the occurrences are in men, mainly aged below 40.
- Fever, muscle ache, lesions, and chills are the common symptoms of monkeypox in humans
- The virus has a fatality ratio of three to six percent. Most people recover within three to four weeks.
- There's currently no specific treatment for monkeypox. Patients will usually need to stay in a specialist hospital so the infection doesn't spread and general symptoms can be treated.
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