Monkeypox Is Spreading In The US and Europe
Added 2022-05-20 15:28:24 +0000 UTCThe first reported case of Monkeypox has been discovered in the United States after an outbreak in the United Kingdom and Spain. Monkeypox is an infectious disease closely related to smallpox, which is one of the deadliest and most contagious diseases in modern history, and which has been effectively eradicated through vaccination. Luckily monkeypox is not nearly as deadly or contagious, with symptoms that include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen glands, and pus-filled blisters or “pox”.
The disease has a fatality rate of about 10%, which is high, and spreads easily between animals and humans, although it doesn’t actually come from monkeys but rodents. It can also be caught by eating an infected animal or touching its blood or fur. However, the disease is incredibly rare, and human to human infection is unusual, although as we’re seeing, not impossible. Transmission between humans can come from direct close contact to an infected person’s coughing or sneezing, or interestingly, from sex, making monkeypox in some cases, an STD.
So should you worry about this new infectious disease, or take extra precautions? Early analysis says that on the one hand, this outbreak has more cases, spreading faster than in prior years, but not so many cases as to cause alarm or suggest that the monkeypox virus has mutated to be worse than normal.
We also already have a vaccine against smallpox, which works with 85% effectiveness against monkeypox and interestingly, the eradication of smallpox is part of the reason for this monkeypox outbreak. Both diseases were kept at bay through the late 20th century because of aggressive vaccination - (anti-vaxxers take note).
But once the risk for smallpox fell to zero, vaccinations stopped, and monkeypox, which had not been eradicated, began to spread again. In short, the sudden spread of this disease is certainly bad news, but virologists are almost certain that we don’t need to worry about a COVID-like global pandemic of monkeypox.
Still, it’s never a bad idea to keep masking up and reasonably distancing, especially while COVID is still ongoing, no matter how many mask mandates are lifted against medical advice.
