Posted BY: Jasmine S
THE NEXT MANUFACTURED PANDEMIC
Monkeypox patients could pass on the disease for up to four weeks after symptoms appear, experts tell DailyMail.com as the virus spreads to eleven nations.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an emerging infectious diseases expert at John Hopkins University, made the warning in an interview today.
People who catch the virus initially suffer a fever before rashes and skin lesions appear on the face and body. The virus can then be passed on through touching the affected areas or via droplets expelled in coughs and sneezes.
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The month-long infectious period raises the likelihood that the virus could be passed on by infected patients to others.
America is bracing for more monkeypox cases to be detected in the coming days, but experts are not expecting cases on a par with the Covid pandemic.
Health chiefs confirmed their first case this year in a man from Massachusetts on Wednesday, while another patient has been hospitalized with a suspected case in New York City — and six people are being monitored after sitting within three rows of an infected individual on a flight.
Most cases being detected are not linked to travel in west Africa — where the virus is endemic — suggesting it is spreading in western nations.
Canada yesterday joined the growing list of countries detecting their first-ever cases, saying two individuals in Quebec were infected. It is probing another 17.
Many cases have been detected in gay and bisexual men, with scientists saying it is possible the virus was passed on sexually.
In Spain — which has detected 30 cases, the most out of any nation — infections are being linked to a single un-named ‘sauna’ and are among young gay and bisexual men. In the country, the sauna is slang for a place where men who have sex with other men meet for sex, rather than a bathhouse.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a smallpox drug to treat monkeypox patients Friday, while the World Health Organization revealed it will hold daily meetings as the situation unfolds.
