UK expert - Monkeypox cause for alarm, not panic

Reuters Videos
16,995 次觀看・2 年前

STORY: Monkeypox is a usually mild viral illness, characterized by symptoms of fever as well as a distinctive bumpy rash.

First identified in monkeys, the viral disease typically spreads through close contact and largely occurs in west and central Africa. It has rarely spread elsewhere, so this fresh spate of cases outside the continent has triggered concern.

But Jimmy Whitworth, a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, explained while there was cause for concern, there was no need for panic.

"This is not going to spread and get into the general population and cause an epidemic like the coronavirus has," he told Reuters.

A handful of cases of monkeypox have now been reported or are suspected in Britain, Portugal, Spain and the United States

The first European case was confirmed on May 7 in an individual who returned to England from Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic.

Immunisation against smallpox, which provides some protection against monkeypox, was stopped after the eradication of the disease in Africa. This could provide some explanation for a rise in cases in the continent, Whitworth added.