Monkeypox: Can it be contained? - CTV News

Since May, nearly 90 countries have reported more than 31,000 cases of monkeypox.

The World Health Organization classified the escalating outbreak of the once-rare disease as an international emergency in July; the U.S.

The virus does not spread easily and there is a vaccine.

Except for Africa, there is no sign of sustained monkeypox transmission beyond men who have sex with men, meaning that stopping spread among that group could effectively end the outbreak.

Last week, British scientists said there were "early signs" the monkeypox cases in the U.K.

-- which once had the world's biggest outbreak outside Africa -- had peaked.

A pandemic means that a disease outbreak has spread to the entire world.

WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he declared monkeypox an emergency in part to prompt countries to take the epidemic seriously, saying there is still an opportunity to contain the disease before it becomes a global problem.

Monkeypox spread typically requires skin-to-skin or skin-to-mouth contact with an infected patient's lesions.

People can also be infected through contact with the clothing or bedsheets of someone who has monkeypox lesions.

It also can be spread through contact with respiratory droplets, but scientists are still trying to figure out how often that happens.

British health officials say they haven't confirmed any instances of airborne transmission.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 99% of monkeypox cases in the U.S.

Still, anyone can catch the virus if they are in close contact with an infected person or fabrics that touched an infected person.

They are suggesting the shots for health workers, people who have been in close contact with an infected person, and men at high risk of catching monkeypox.

health officials on Tuesday authorized a new strategy that would allow health professionals to vaccinate up to five people -- instead of one -- with each vial.

Britain's Health Security Agency has advised people to check themselves for monkeypox lesions before they have sex or go to a social event, noting that most of the country's cases are believed to have originated at festivals, saunas and other venues where sex has taken place?

Anyone with monkeypox lesions should isolate until they are completely healed, which can take up to three weeks?

Monkeypox has been endemic for decades in parts of central and west Africa, where people have mostly been sickened after contact with infected wild animals like rodents and squirrels.

The acting director of Africa's top public health agency said last week that sex among gay and bisexual men was "not relevant" to the continent's outbreak, with about 40% of cases among women.

Countries that didn't see many monkeypox cases before this outbreak have reported a handful of deaths, while Africa has had at least 100 suspected deaths this year.

Most people infected with monkeypox recover without treatment, but it can cause more severe symptoms like brain inflammation and in rare cases, death.

Monkeypox can be serious in children, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions, like cancer, tuberculosis or HIV.

In the U.S., the CDC says about 40% of people with monkeypox also have HIV.

The longer the current outbreaks continue, the greater the chances the virus could spread in other communities, similar to how HIV was first spotted in gay men before becoming established more widely.

"There is some crossover between the sexual networks of gay and bisexual men and networks of heterosexual people with high sexual activity, so it is possible we could see monkeypox more widely," said Dr.

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Since May, nearly 90 countries have reported more than 31,000 cases of monkeypox.

The World Health Organization classified the escalating outbreak of the once-rare disease as an international emergency in July; the U.S.

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