At least 21 individuals across 11 states have been identified with monkeypox in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus is expected to continue to spread, said officials on Friday, and the news of its spread may feel ominous for folks who have just begun returning to their “normal lives” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a desperate effort to stop the spread of monkeypox, health officials have delivered about 1,200 vaccine doses and 100 treatment courses to eight states, says Dr. Raj Panjabi, the White House’s senior director for global health security and biodefense.
As of Friday, there were 800 reported cases of monkeypox worldwide with the virus spreading to at least 31 countries outside of Africa with at least 207 diagnosed in the United Kingdom so far.
Monkeypox is an infection caused by the monkeypox virus and belongs to the same genus which is responsible for smallpox. The virus was discovered in 1958, and the first human case was recorded in 1970. The symptoms of monkeypox begin with a fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion. A rash will appear days following the fever’s first arrival. Monkeypox can last for 2 to 4 weeks and has a fatality rate between 3% - 6% in developed nations. The virus is more severe in children.
While anyone can become infected with monkeypox, health officials are cautioning the LGBTQ community about an increased chance of exposure due to the fact that a majority of those who were first diagnosed with the virus identified as men who have sex with other men.
“This may just be unlucky that (monkeypox) happened to get into this one particular community first,” said Dr. Jake Dunning, an infectious diseases researcher at the University of Oxford who is treating cases in London. “It’s just that they are a community and by having sex with each other, that is how it’s spreading,” he said.
Health officials are asking those who are infected to isolate at home, to abstain from sex, and to wear condoms for eight weeks after symptoms have cleared. They are also calling on patients who are infected to limit their interactions with pets and other animals.
The virus is endemic in the continent of Africa, with Nigeria having recorded at least 44 cases so far this year because of little to no access to vaccines and treatments.
According to officials, the U.S. has 1,000 vaccine doses to target monkeypox with thousands more being delivered by Bavarian Nordic, the biotechnology company based in Copenhagen, which is producing a vaccine named Jynneos that is safer and more effective than previous vaccines, though supplies are limited.
“Vaccines and treatments that are being stockpiled elsewhere are not necessarily shared,” said Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, director of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control.
The World Health Organization (WHO) holds a stockpile of 2.4 million doses of the smallpox vaccine with an additional 31 million doses stashed away in five other countries. The WHO says vaccines are only to be used in cases of high exposure, though they are now reviewing that guidance as well as looking at newer Jynneos vaccines for prequalification.