Skilled: Monkeypox doubtless spread by intercourse at 2 raves in Europe

LONDON (AP) — A leading adviser to the World Well being Organization described the unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox in developed international locations as “a random event” that seems to have been attributable to sexual activity at two recent raves in Europe.

Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed WHO’s emergencies division, advised The Associated Press that the leading concept to elucidate the spread of the illness was sexual transmission at raves held in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox has not beforehand triggered widespread outbreaks past Africa, where it is endemic in animals.

“We know monkeypox can unfold when there is close contact with the lesions of somebody who's infected, and it seems like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission,” mentioned Heymann.

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

Well being officials say many of the known cases in Europe have been amongst males who have intercourse with men, however anybody will be contaminated by means of shut contact with a sick person, their clothing or bedsheets. Scientists say it will be tough to disentangle whether or not the spread is being driven by sex or merely shut contact.

“By nature, sexual exercise involves intimate contact, which one would expect to increase the chance of transmission, no matter a person’s sexual orientation and regardless of the mode of transmission,” said Mike Skinner, a virologist at Imperial School London.

On Monday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Director Andrea Ammon said “the likelihood of further unfold of the virus via shut contact, for instance throughout sexual activities amongst individuals with multiple sexual companions, is taken into account to be high.”

So far, WHO has recorded greater than 90 cases of monkeypox in a dozen countries including Canada, Spain, Israel, France, Switzerland, the U.S. and Australia.

On Monday, Denmark introduced its first case, Portugal revised its total upwards to 37, Italy reported one additional an infection and Britain added 37 extra cases.

U.S. well being officers said Monday they knew of 1 confirmed case, within the state of Massachusetts, and 4 probable circumstances — two in Utah, one in Florida and one in New York Metropolis. All had been males who had traveled outdoors the U.S.

Germany has 4 confirmed instances linked to publicity at “social gathering events ... where sexual activity passed off” in Spain’s Canary Islands and in Berlin, in line with a authorities report to lawmakers obtained by the AP.

Madrid’s senior well being official mentioned Monday that the Spanish capital had 30 confirmed circumstances. Enrique Ruiz Escudero said authorities are investigating possible hyperlinks between a latest Gay Delight occasion in the Canary Islands, which drew some 80,000 people, and instances at a Madrid sauna.

The monkeypox instances to this point have been gentle, with no deaths reported. Typically, the virus causes fever, chills, rash and lesions on the face or genitals. Most individuals get well within several weeks without requiring hospitalization.

Vaccines towards smallpox, a associated disease, are effective in preventing monkeypox and a few antiviral medication are being developed. Lately, the sickness has been deadly in as much as 6% of infections.

Heymann chaired an pressing assembly of WHO’s advisory group on infectious disease threats on Friday to evaluate the outbreak and said there was no evidence to suggest that monkeypox had mutated into a extra infectious form.

The U.N. agency stated the outbreak is “a extremely uncommon event” and said the truth that cases are being seen in so many alternative international locations suggests the virus may have been silently spreading for a while. The agency’s Europe director warned that festivals and parties might speed up unfold.

Nonetheless, at a public session on Monday, WHO officers described the outbreak as “containable” and cautioned against stigmatizing affected groups, saying the disease can infect anybody.

The agency mentioned 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 stated a lot of the cases identified up to now were in younger males whose infections had been picked up after they sought help for lesions at sexual well being clinics.

Heymann, who can be a professor of infectious ailments at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medication, mentioned the monkeypox outbreak was probably a random event that may be traceable to a single an infection.

“It’s very possible there was any individual who acquired contaminated, developed lesions on the genitals, palms or some other place, and then spread it to others when there was sexual or shut, physical contact,” Heymann hypothesized. “After which there have been these worldwide events that seeded the outbreak around the globe, into the U.S. and different European international locations.”

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

“This is not COVID,” he said. “We need to gradual it down, nevertheless it doesn't spread within the air and now we have vaccines to protect towards it.”

Heymann mentioned research ought to be conducted rapidly to find out if monkeypox might be unfold by people without signs and that populations prone to the illness should take precautions to guard themselves.

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