Monkeypox: Nine cases identified in seven states including New York
U.S. health officials said on Thursday that nine cases of monkeypox have been identified in seven states including New York, but all the infections are mild and none of them are life-threatening.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 100 cases of monkeypox have been identified in Europe, North America, Israel and Australia in recent days.
Speaking on why the disease mostly among gay or bisexual men, Oxford researcher Dr. Jake Dunning said: “This may just be unlucky that [monkeypox] happened to get into this one particular community first.”
“It’s just that they are a community and by having sex with each other, that is how it’s spreading,” added Dr. Dunning, an infectious diseases researcher at the University of Oxford, who is also involved in treating cases in London.
Other experts have warned that the disease could spread more widely if measures aren’t taken to stop the outbreak.
Doctors stressed that there is no danger of monkeypox sparking a widespread pandemic like COVID-19.
Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease, per se, but it can be spread by sexual partners.
The variant of monkeypox that is responsible for the U.S. outbreak is considered mild.
Officials said the U.S. has 1,000 doses of a vaccine approved for the prevention of monkeypox and smallpox, plus more than 100 million doses of an older-generation smallpox vaccine in a government stockpile.
