The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the number of monkeypox cases could grow considerably, but called for “not to panic.”
The entity’s head of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, Sylvie Briand, said that the monkeypox outbreak in Europe may be “the tip of the iceberg” and acknowledged that the definitive symptoms of the virus take time after contagion. before they manifest immediately.
There could be “many more cases going undetected in communities” as definitive symptoms of the virus don’t manifest immediately, he said.
“We know that we will have more cases in the coming days,” Briand explained, saying that it was “not a disease that the general public should be concerned about. It’s not COVID or other diseases that spread quickly,” she said.
The WHO continues to work to find the exact origin of the virus, whose first case was confirmed on May 7 in the United Kingdom before spreading to several countries in Europe. So far, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has confirmed 219 patients infected with the disease.
Spain is one of the countries with the highest number of infections, with 98 cases as of today, Sunday. The UK has reported 90 patients.
“We are still at the beginning of this event,” Briand said at the recently concluded World Health Assembly in Geneva.
Monkeypox is caused by the Monkeypox virus. The first cases detected in animals date back to the 1950s in monkeys in Africa. In humans, the first cases were reported in 1979, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The symptoms of the disease consist of muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and the typical picture of a cold. It is preceded by a rash, mainly on the face and back.
The virus has an incubation period of 6 to 16 days and can be cleared from the body within 2 to 4 weeks.
