Rare disease ‘monkey pox’ transmitted through sexual contact? 4 British confirmed cases ‘gay’

Anxiety is growing as a rare infectious disease in Africa called ‘monkeypox’ is discovered one after another in Europe and the United States.

On the 20th (local time), CNN reported that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was tracking six people in the country for infection.

A man from Massachusetts who had previously traveled to Canada was confirmed to have the disease, and the CDC is checking for the infection in six people who were on a flight from Nigeria to the UK earlier this month. They are known to have been near the monkey pox confirmed case.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 3,000 cases of monkey pox are reported in Nigeria each year. Outbreaks occur mainly in rural areas when people come into close contact with infected mice and squirrels. Nigeria is a country where monkeypox has become an endemic disease.

CDC spokeswoman Christine Pearson said: “All six people are currently healthy and have no symptoms.

Aside from the CDC epidemiological investigation, the New York City Department of Health announced that it is investigating whether a patient currently being quarantined at a hospital could have monkeypox.

The Ministry of Health said it is currently conducting preliminary tests and will send a virus sample to the CDC if it tests positive to determine if it’s infected with monkey smallpox.

In England, where the first confirmed case of monkey pox this year on the 6th, the number of confirmed cases increased to nine, and there were also five in Portugal. In Spain, only 23 suspected cases were identified.

The first confirmed case in the UK also visited Nigeria last month and recently returned home.

While it is unknown how the person came into contact with the virus locally, health experts in the UK are analyzing whether the disease is sexually transmitted. In the UK, Spain, and Portugal, the majority of infections are due to sexual contact between men, such as gay men.

All four British confirmed cases have been identified as men having sex with men (MSM). British health officials have issued an advisory for groups that engage in the same type of sexual contact.

Like smallpox, monkey smallpox has early symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, lymphadenitis, and fatigue. Afterwards, blisters and scabs form on the skin. It usually recovers within a few weeks, but in some cases it can become severe. The incubation period is 5 to 17 days.

The fatality rate of the ‘Western African type’ with mild symptoms is about 1%, and the ‘Concobrain type’ with a high probability of severe progression is about 10%. Monkey smallpox, recently discovered in Europe, has been identified as a West African type.

In this regard, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said that there is currently no confirmed case of monkey pox in Korea, but close monitoring is necessary.