CDC expresses concern over unusual monkeypox outbreak in UK
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CDC expresses concern over unusual monkeypox outbreak in UK
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CDC expresses concern over unusual monkeypox outbreak in UK.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday expressed concern about an unusual monkeypox outbreak in the U.K., saying there appeared to be at least some undetected transmission of the virus there and warning that the outbreak could spread outside the U.K.
“We do have a level of concern, which is very different from what we usually think of as monkeypox. I think we have some concern that this could spread outside of the UK,” Jennifer McQuiston, a senior CDC official, said in an interview. tell STAT.
There have been seven confirmed and one suspected case of monkeypox in the UK since the beginning of May.
Human monkeypox cases are uncommon and are especially rare outside of West and Central Africa. While one of the cases had recently travelled to Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic, the others appear to have been infected in the UK.
None of those infected within the UK had any known link to the traveler, and the time of onset suggests that he was not the source of these infections.
Complicating the situation, other cases are made up of two distinct groups with no apparent link to each other, adding to concerns.
Two of the confirmed cases and one probable case are a family unit, World Health Organization expert Maria Van Kerkhove said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Four other confirmed cases, which were recently revealed, were identified as gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men by the UK Health Security Agency – three from London and a fourth from Newcastle, nearly 300 miles north. All four may have been infected in London, the agency said.
It is not known how any of these people contracted the virus.
Transmission is thought to occur primarily through virus-laden droplets, but direct contact with the foci or bodily fluids of an infected person, or indirect contact through contaminated clothing or sheets, may also result.
The fact that there are two apparently unrelated clusters suggests that there may be more than one transmission chain in the country, each of which may contain additional cases that have not yet been detected.
Maria Van Kerkhove, who leads the emerging diseases and zoonotic diseases unit in WHO’s health emergency plan, said viral sequencing was being conducted in the UK to try to determine whether the cases were genetically linked.
There is no indication that monkeypox is spreading to large populations in the UK.
However, evidence that there may be some undetected cases has fueled concerns about how much transmission there may be and whether the virus has spread further afield.
“You have two clusters with no links to travel or others known to be associated with a recognized outbreak.
This suggests that there is an unknown chain of transmission happening,” McQuiston said. “If there’s an unknown chain of transmission, it’s just for us to be vigilant and think. Is this going to spread outside the UK?”
While human monkeypox cases outside Africa are rare, some cases have been exported to the US (two in 2021), the UK, Israel and Singapore in recent years.
The UK Health Service said the last four cases were infections of the West African strain of monkeypox, which caused less disease than the Central African strain.
The symptoms of monkeypox are similar to, but milder than, smallpox, which was declared successful by the World Health Organization in 1980. In addition to flu-like symptoms, the infection can trigger a distinctive rash.
Many diseases can cause rashes, but monkeypox rashes have some unusual features, especially blisters that form on the palms of your hands.
There is a vaccine licensed in the U.S. in 2019 for people 18 and older to protect against smallpox and monkeypox, Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos.
The second vaccine, ACAM2000 from Emergent Product Development, protects against smallpox and is thought to offer some protection against monkeypox.
But both vaccines are only licensed for people considered to be at high risk of contracting the disease. The smallpox vaccine was used in a 2003 outbreak in the United States involving 47 people.
About 1 in 10 monkeypox cases in Africa are fatal, and severe illness and death are more likely in children.
Public health in the UK has alerted sexual health clinics to people with unexplained rashes as cases have been identified among gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men.
The CDC is considering issuing a health alert to the country’s healthcare industry and sexually transmitted infection clinics, McQuiston said.
“There’s a lot of travel between the UK and the US and other parts of the globe.
So I think we’re concerned that, given that you do have four cases among MSM, we might want to consider sending a message to our STI clinic. Information … about what to watch out for, what to watch out for,” she said.
Van Kerkhove said WHO has reached out to European countries through its European office in Copenhagen to raise awareness of the risk of detecting monkeypox cases.
Communication around the outbreak must be carefully crafted, McQuiston said. “This is certainly a population that has been stigmatized in the past for sexually transmitted infections like HIV,” she said. “I think we’ve learned a little bit from these experiences about how to approach this with the required sensitivity. “
Public health investigators in the UK are working to trace who the confirmed cases had been in contact with before falling ill in an attempt to find the source of their infection.
But they are also looking to identify contacts of infected people to see if they spread the virus to others.
So far, the CDC has not been informed of any Americans appearing on the UKHSA’s contact list for these cases, McQuiston said.
But she did reveal that six people in the US were being monitored because they were on the same flight as the man who travelled from Nigeria to the UK on May 4.
She said that while there was no indication the men had direct contact with the man – who sat within a three-row radius of his seat – the six would be monitored for 21 days.
WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response Ibrahima Socé Fall said the outbreak in the UK reminds us of the need to pay more attention to monkeypox, whose disease dynamics are poorly understood.
“Obviously the main issue we need to investigate is to really understand the true extent of monkeypox transmission in Africa and make sure we invest in prevention and treatment tools to help the most exposed people in Africa,” he said.
CDC confirmed the first monkeypox case in US this year on May18
A Massachusetts resident has tested positive for monkeypox on May 17, making it the first case in the United States this year.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health told media: This patient is an adult male who recently traveled to Canada and have initial testing on May 17 and was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 18.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health also mentioned:
- No risk to public
- Patient in good condition
- Rare potentially serious illness
You could click below link for more information about monkeypox.
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Signs and SymptomsIn humans, the symptoms of monkeypox are similar to but milder than the symptoms of smallpox. Monkeypox begins with fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion. The main difference between symptoms of smallpox and monkeypox…
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TreatmentAt this time, there are no specific treatments available for monkeypox infection, but monkeypox outbreaks can be controlled. Smallpox vaccine, cidofovir, ST-246, and vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) can be used to control…
CDC expresses concern over unusual monkeypox outbreak in UK
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