The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned that the approximately 200 monkey pox cases that have been discovered in recent weeks are just the beginning.
The monkey cup infection has received a lot of attention due to the fact that the cases of infection have been discovered in countries where the virus does not normally circulate.
– We do not know if we have only seen the tip of the iceberg, and that there are many more cases of infection that have not been detected, says Sylvie Briand according to The Guardian.
Briand is head of epidemic and pandemic preparations at the WHO. She says that we are still in the starting phase when it comes to monkey cups.
– We know that there will be more cases of infection in the next few days, she says.
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Ask people not to worry
Briand says there is still no reason to panic.
– This is not a disease that the general public should worry about. It is not a disease like the coronavirus and other diseases that spread quickly, she says.
In recent weeks, the virus has been detected in several European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland. Infections have also been detected recently in the USA, Canada, Australia and Argentina. In total, the disease has been registered in more than 20 countries.
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The monkey cup infection was on a visit to Oslo
A foreign person who visited Oslo in May was subsequently diagnosed with the infection. Oslo Municipality and FHI started infection detection, but no cases of infection have been detected in this country.
The National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) in Norway believes that the disease does not have the potential to become a pandemic and points out that the virus does not spread easily. Monkey cups can be spread through skin contact with blisters or sores, drops and sharing of, for example, bed linen or towels.
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For the time being, the Norwegian authorities will not call monkey cups dangerous to the public
Norway gets access to monkey cup vaccine
According to the Ministry of Health, Norway will receive a share of monkey cup vaccines that the EU is already in the process of obtaining. The vaccine is already approved for use against smallpox, but not for monkey smallpox yet. Sweden’s vaccine coordinator, Richard Bergström says NRK that the EU will deliver vaccines and medicines as early as June.
– We ensure this through our membership in EU4Health, where Norway is a full member, says State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng in the Ministry of Health and Care Services to NTB.
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