Public Health Officer Belgium reported three cases monkey pox in his country. The case is suspected to be from the festival gay held in Antwerp.
Organizers of the Darklands festival said the monkeypox virus in Belgium may have been carried by overseas visitors to the festival.
It is known, Darklands is an event for gay men enlivened by festivals, parties, education, and shopping venues. The event took place in Belgium for four days and ended on 9 May.
“There is reason to assume that the virus was carried by overseas visitors to the festival following the recent discovery of cases in other countries,” wrote a post by festival organizer Darklands. NewsweekSaturday (21/5).
The organizers of the Darklands festival posted the statement on the same day health officials confirmed the finding of monkeypox cases.
In the post, public health authorities asked festival organizers to advise participants to be on the lookout for unusual injuries for three weeks after physical contact.
Previously, Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke reported that three cases of monkeypox had been identified in the Flemish region of Belgium.
Vandenbroucke said the number of cases was being closely monitored following reports of infections in Britain, Portugal and Spain. The case was found in most of the men who had physical contact with other men.
Even so, Vandenbroucke claims that the risk of transmission to the general population tends to be low.
Currently, there are a total of 76 confirmed cases of monkeypox and 65 suspected cases of monkeypox in countries that have never reported cases.
According to a report by Italian management engineer Antonio Caramia, cases of monkeypox are currently mostly found in Europe, particularly Spain and Portugal. This disease outbreak is said to have dominated the continent.
Meanwhile, the United States recorded two confirmed cases of monkeypox.
“The recent outbreaks reported in 11 countries so far are unusual, as they occurred in non-endemic countries,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement Friday (20/5).
Noted, more than 1,300 suspected cases of monkeypox with 58 deaths were reported as part of the current disease outbreak. Most of the new cases were concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo until earlier this month.
WHO says the virus is spread through close contact with other people. The organization also stated that stigmatizing a particular group would only prolong the outbreak. This is because stigma only encourages people not to seek treatment.
(blq / pmg)
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