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The outbreaks in southern Europe are concentrated in the regions of the capitals of Madrid and Lisbon. The British, who speak of an “extremely unusual” situation, are working with the World Health Organization to investigate the British outbreak.
In general, an infection with the monkeypox virus is through respiratory droplets. Health officials now report that a significant portion of the infections occurred through sexual contact. In most cases, it involved sex between men.
Authorities in the Madrid region said they had discovered 23 possible cases of monkey pox, all likely transmitted through sex. The infected individuals are all young adult males and most are males who have sexual relations with other males, but not all of them. Similar sounds come from Lisbon. And the four most recent cases in Great Britain also involve men who have sex with other men.
The virus has also appeared in Massachusetts, the health service of this American state announced on Wednesday. It concerns a man who recently traveled to Canada. He has been hospitalized and is in good condition, health authorities said. The Canadians say that there are no known infections with the monkeypox virus in their country.
This is the first confirmed case in the US this year. The virus was discovered last year in two people, in Texas and Maryland. Both had recently been to Nigeria.
Monkeypox normally only occurs in Central and West Africa. Symptoms of monkeypox in humans include a rash that often starts on the face and moves to other parts of the body, fever, and muscle aches. Most people recover from the illness within weeks, which can sometimes be fatal. The virus was first found in monkeys in 1958.
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