Some time ago, scientists in Italy and Germany detected the monkeypox virus in the semen of a number of patients. Responding to the findings, the World Health Organization (WHO) immediately conducted an investigation regarding reports of the monkeypox virus in semen.
The investigation was intended to see if monkeypox could be sexually transmitted.
“This may be something we weren’t aware of before regarding this disease,” said Catherine Smallwood, WHO Europe manager for monkeypox incidents.
To this day, WHO still believes monkeypox is transmitted through close contact between humans. But with this discovery, there are other possible ways of transmission.
“We really had to focus on the most common mode of transmission and we clearly saw that it was skin-to-skin,” Smallwood added.
For information, more than 1,300 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 30 countries, mostly in Europe, since early May. Most of the reported cases infect men who have sex with men.
The monkeypox outbreak has sparked worldwide concern because it has occurred outside of Africa, where the virus is endemic. Most cases are also unrelated to travel to the continent.
Watch Videos “Getting to know Monkeypox which is endemic in a number of countries“
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