Monkeypox WHO expert doesn’t expect pandemic as situation evolves
Posted May 30, 2022 9:59 am.
A top monkeypox expert with the World Health Organization doesn’t expect a pandemic, but she’s warning that anyone is at potential risk of getting the disease.
Dr. Rosamund Lewis says there are still many unknowns about the virus, including how it’s spreading and whether the suspension of widespread smallpox immunization decades ago may somehow be speeding up its transmission now.
She says past outbreaks have suggested the disease does not spread easily, though the WHO is still investigating how it is transmitted — whether by sex, through the air, as well as whether people without symptoms are able to spread it.
So far, the WHO says the virus has been reported by 23 Member States “that are not endemic for monkeypox.” As of May 26, the agency notes in Canada, 26 cases have been confirmed while 25 to 35 suspected infections are still under investigation.
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There have been close to 260 lab confirmed cases reported to the UN agency globally since last week.
The WHO says “the situation is evolving rapidly,” adding it expects more cases to be identified in non-endemic countries. The same is believed to be the case for countries “known to be endemic who have not recently been reporting cases.”
“The vast majority of reported cases so far have no established travel links to an endemic area and have presented through primary care or sexual health services,” the WHO says of cases globally. “The identification of confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox with no direct travel links to an endemic area is atypical.”
The WHO goes on to say that “one case of monkeypox in a non-endemic country is considered an outbreak,” adding the simultaneous reporting of cases in several non-endemic countries suggests the virus had been transmitted undetected “for some time.”
Stigma around monkeypox transmission
There have been many reports of monkeypox being identified among men who have sex with men. However, experts note the virus is not restricted to any groups and anyone could get it.
There have been concerns about possible stigmatization rising when it comes to conversations around how monkeypox is spread.
It’s important to approach the situation with consideration, explains Dr. Troy Grennan, physician lead of the HIV/STI Program at the BC Centre for Disease Control.
“There are key lessons we can learn from the past,” Grennan previously told CityNews. “We just have to make sure we are recognizing what is happening, but doing it in a way that isn’t judgmental, isn’t stigmatizing, isn’t shaming.”
Grennan is among those to point out the spread of monkeypox isn’t restricted to men who have sex with men, adding nothing in previous outbreaks have indicated that connection.
“I think it’s very dangerous to label or tie this to a particular group. If we look at all of the past monkeypox outbreaks that we’ve seen, at least the ones that we know about, there’s really nothing to indicate that it’s an infection that only spreads among a particular group,” he explained.
People who have been infected with the monkeypox virus, which is an orthopoxvirus, typically present with symptoms including fever, a rash, and swollen lymph nodes. According to the WHO, the incubation period of the virus can range from five to 21 days.
