Expert: Monkeypox likely spread by sex at 2 raves in Europe

LONDON (AP) — A leading adviser to the World Health Organization described the unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox in developed countries as “a random event” that appears to have been caused by sexual activity at two recent raves in Europe.

Dr. David Heymann, who previously headed WHO’s emergencies division, told The Related Press that the leading theory to clarify the unfold of the disease was sexual transmission at raves held in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox has not beforehand triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, the place it is endemic in animals.

“We all know monkeypox can unfold when there's close contact with the lesions of somebody who's contaminated, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission,” stated Heymann.

That marks a major departure from the disease’s typical sample of spread in central and western Africa, the place individuals are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates and outbreaks haven't spilled across borders.

Well being officers say most of the identified circumstances in Europe have been amongst males who've intercourse with men, but anyone could be contaminated by means of close contact with a sick individual, their clothing or bedsheets. Scientists say it will likely be troublesome to disentangle whether or not the spread is being pushed by sex or merely close contact.

“By nature, sexual exercise entails intimate contact, which one would count on to increase the chance of transmission, whatever a person’s sexual orientation and irrespective of the mode of transmission,” said Mike Skinner, a virologist at Imperial Faculty London.

On Monday, the European Centre for Illness Prevention and Control Director Andrea Ammon stated “the chance of further spread of the virus by shut contact, for instance during sexual actions amongst persons with a number of sexual partners, is taken into account to be high.”

Thus far, WHO has recorded greater than 90 instances of monkeypox in a dozen countries together with Canada, Spain, Israel, France, Switzerland, the U.S. and Australia.

On Monday, Denmark announced its first case, Portugal revised its complete upwards to 37, Italy reported one additional infection and Britain added 37 more instances.

U.S. well being officers stated Monday they knew of 1 confirmed case, in the state of Massachusetts, and 4 possible circumstances — two in Utah, one in Florida and one in New York City. All were males who had traveled outside the U.S.

Germany has 4 confirmed cases linked to publicity at “social gathering events ... the place sexual exercise befell” in Spain’s Canary Islands and in Berlin, in response to a government report to lawmakers obtained by the AP.

Madrid’s senior well being official mentioned Monday that the Spanish capital had 30 confirmed instances. Enrique Ruiz Escudero mentioned authorities are investigating possible links between a latest Gay Satisfaction occasion within the Canary Islands, which drew some 80,000 folks, and cases at a Madrid sauna.

The monkeypox instances so far have been delicate, with no deaths reported. Usually, the virus causes fever, chills, rash and lesions on the face or genitals. Most people get better inside several weeks with out requiring hospitalization.

Vaccines in opposition to smallpox, a related illness, are efficient in stopping monkeypox and a few antiviral medication are being developed. In recent times, the sickness has been deadly in as much as 6% of infections.

Heymann chaired an urgent meeting of WHO’s advisory group on infectious disease threats on Friday to assess the outbreak and mentioned there was no evidence to suggest that monkeypox had mutated right into a more infectious kind.

The U.N. agency said the outbreak is “a extremely unusual occasion” and said the truth that instances are being seen in so many various nations suggests the virus might have been silently spreading for some time. The company’s Europe director warned that festivals and parties could accelerate spread.

Still, at a public session on Monday, WHO officials described the outbreak as “containable” and cautioned in opposition to stigmatizing affected groups, saying the disease can infect anyone.

The company said the cases appeared to be linked to a monkeypox virus that was first detected in exported cases from Nigeria to Britain, Israel and Singapore in 2018 and 2019.

Authorities in Britain, Spain and Portugal have said many of the circumstances recognized to date have been in young males whose infections have been picked up once they sought assist for lesions at sexual well being clinics.

Heymann, who can be a professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, stated the monkeypox outbreak was doubtless a random event that may be traceable to a single infection.

“It’s very possible there was somebody who bought contaminated, developed lesions on the genitals, palms or some place else, and then unfold it to others when there was sexual or shut, physical contact,” Heymann hypothesized. “After which there were these international occasions that seeded the outbreak all over the world, into the U.S. and different European nations.”

He emphasised that the disease was unlikely to trigger widespread transmission.

“This is not COVID,” he stated. “We need to slow it down, but it surely doesn't spread in the air and we've got vaccines to guard towards it.”

Heymann mentioned studies must be conducted quickly to determine if monkeypox may very well be unfold by individuals without signs and that populations prone to the disease should take precautions to protect themselves.

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Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, and Frank Jordans and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, contributed to this report.