But experts are still convinced that the virus will not spread widely.

The number of monkeypox virus patients is increasing. Earlier this week, British authorities already reported that seven people from Great Britain had the virus. Not only does it now appear that the numbers have increased in Great Britain, the virus has now also surfaced in Portugal, the United States and possibly Spain. Do we have to worry?

What is it?

Monkeypox virus is a virus infection that normally only occurs in Africa, but is sometimes also brought to other countries by travelers. Contrary to what the name suggests, the virus mainly occurs among small African animals – such as rodents, for example. However, monkeys can sometimes contract it, just like humans, for example through physical contact with infected animals. The virus is related to the well-known smallpox virus (Variola), which has been eliminated since the second half of the 1970s thanks to a worldwide vaccination campaign. The monkeypox virus has – as far as we now know – two strains: the Congo strain is quite contagious and pathogenic and leads to death in about 10 percent of cases. In addition, there is the West African strain, which is less contagious and disease-causing and is fatal in about 1 percent of cases. It is currently believed that the latter strain is responsible for the British infections.

After the monkeypox virus was diagnosed in some Britons earlier this week, the British Health Security Agency (UKHSA) now reports that it has discovered two new cases. It concerns a person living in London and a person from the south east of England. It means that currently nine Britons have contracted the virus.

enigmatic

How that happened is still somewhat puzzling. The last two confirmed cases do not appear to have been in countries where the monkeypox virus is circulating. And so it is likely that there is community transfer. Strikingly, the two new cases report that they have no known connections with the British in whom the virus has been previously diagnosed. The UKHSA is currently investigating how they could have contracted monkeypox and how everyone could be related.

Other countries

The monkeypox virus does not only appear in Great Britain. Because reports have also been made in Portugal, the United States and Spain. More than 20 suspected cases have been identified in Portugal, five of which have now been confirmed. It mainly concerns young men. In the United States, one person has been diagnosed with monkeypox: an adult man who had recently traveled to Canada. In Spain, eight people may have the virus, although these cases have not yet been officially confirmed.

The symptoms
The first symptoms of monkey pox are fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue. A rash can develop that often starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body, including the genitals. The rash can change over time and go through several stages. So it can look like chickenpox or syphilis. Eventually a scab forms, which later falls off.

What many of the patients have in common is that they identify themselves as gay, bisexual or as MSM (men who have sex with other men). “The virus does not spread easily among humans and the risk to the UK population is small,” the UKHSA stressed. “But the most recent cases have been seen within gay and bisexual communities and among men who have sex with other men. Since the virus spreads through close contact, we advise these groups to be on the lookout for unusual rashes or sores on the body, especially the genitals.”

STD

This does not necessarily mean that the monkeypox virus only affects these groups, or that it is a sexually transmitted disease. “By nature, sexual activity involves intimate contact,” said Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London. “This can increase the chance of transmission, regardless of sexual orientation and mode of transmission.”

To care

A pressing question, of course, is to what extent we should be concerned about the current monkeypox virus outbreak. What is somewhat worrying is that unlike previous outbreaks, the vast majority of patients identified have not been in contact with each other, nor do they have shared contacts. This indicates that not all patients are yet on the radar, both in the UK and other countries. Experts are concerned that this outbreak is different from what is typically associated with monkeypox virus. The spread outside the United Kingdom is also somewhat worrying.

Do not panic

Yet there is still no reason to panic, according to epidemiologist Michael Head. The fact remains that the monkeypox virus spreads quite difficult from person to person. “It requires very close contact, such as skin-to-skin contact with an individual who is already contagious and has a rash,” explains Head. It means that we don’t have to worry right away. “Doctors and public health authorities must be vigilant to detect infected patients early and limit transmission,” says Skinner.

Despite the fact that monkeypox virus mainly occurs in Africa, the spread of the virus has also increased outside this continent in recent years. The monkeypox virus was first found outside of Africa in 2003, when an outbreak in the United States affected 47 people. Its origins were found in prairie dogs that were sold as pets and had coexisted with animals from Ghana. In 2018, some cases surfaced in Israel and the United Kingdom and again a year later in the United Kingdom and Singapore. In 2021, the virus was discovered again in some British and Americans, most of whom had recently been in Africa.