Cases of monkeypox are on the rise in Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world.
As of Thursday (June 2), according to a monkeypox disease tracker, there have been 736 cases of monkeypox reported worldwide, with 707 confirmed and 26 suspected. There are worries of a larger outbreak because of this.
More than 30 nations where monkeypox is not “endemic” have had monkeypox outbreaks, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This includes hundreds of new confirmed or suspected infections in Europe.
Thursday’s numbers show a significant increase from 667 monkeypox cases reported the previous day. This includes 610 laboratory-confirmed infections and 53 suspected, According to the tracking site
There have been 238 new monkeypox infections in the last three days, from May 30 through June 1, 2022.
In the last 24 hours
An outbreak of monkeypox in the United Kingdom, with 196 cases identified as of Thursday morning.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported on Thursday that Portugal has added 19 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national total to 132.
Countries with confirmed monkeypox virus infection cases (as of Thursday, June 2):
- UK: 196
- Spain: 142
- Portugal: 119
- Canada: 54
- Germany: 41
- France: 33
- Netherlands: 26
- Italy: 20
- US: 19
- Belgium: 14
- UAE: 8
- Chech Republic: 5
- Switzerland: 4
- Sweden: 4
- Ireland: 4
- Denmark: 3
- Slovenia: 2
- Australia: 2
- Argentina: 2
- Israel: 2
- Norway: 1
- Hungary: 1
- Finland: 1
- Austria: 1
- Mexico: 1
- Malta: 1
- Gibraltar: 1
- Close contacts of confirmed monkeypox patients are being offered smallpox vaccinations.
- The World Health Organization’s most prominent expert on monkeypox said she does not expect a pandemic to develop.
- Dr. Rosamund Lewis, on the other hand, acknowledged that there are still many “unknowns” about the illness, including how it’s spreading.
- “We don’t want people to panic or be afraid and think that it’s like COVID or maybe worse,” “The risk of a deadly pandemic is ever-present, yet we can still prepare for it. The answer to the question of whether or not there will be another global epidemic in our lifetime may be found in understanding how viruses and bacteria cause disease,” says Dr. Sylvie Briand, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.
- The symptoms of monkeypox are similar to those seen in smallpox patients, but they are usually less severe. The virus is spread from person to person through contact with infected lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and unclean items such as bedding.
- According to the World Health Organization, the monkeypox may have been spreading for “months, or perhaps a few years” before April, when the current outbreak was first identified outside of Africa’s endemic regions.
- To date, there have been 196 cases in the United Kingdom. The UK Health Security Agency revealed that 86 percent of England’s illnesses were local residents and only two were women.
- In five African countries, there have been 1,365 cases of monkeypox and 69 deaths from December through May.