Monkeypox has gripped several nations over the past month, with the latest confirmed cases reaching more than 1,000 in 29 countries globally.
With this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) increased the 2022 monkeypox outbreak alert to Level 2, recommending various health measures, including the wearing of face masks while traveling.
The CDC issuance of the monkeypox Alert Level 2 came more than a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) elevated the severity of the monkeypox infection to Moderate Risk, making it a threat to global public health.
Due to these monkeypox alerts or warnings, health and travel restrictions have been imposed in some countries, particularly for international travel.
Similar to restrictions related to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), these monkeypox measures are coinciding with existing health protocols of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
In the coming weeks, existing monkeypox health measures can either be mitigated or increased depending on the number of related cases.
Monkeypox infection started in Africa several decades ago and has only started to spread outside the continent with initial cases reported as early as May.
Monkeypox Alert Level 2
The CDC on Monday, June 6, raised the monkeypox alert from Alert Level 1 (Watch - Practice Usual Precautions) to Alert Level 2 (Alert - Practice Enhanced Precautions).
The levels are part of a three-tier scale with Alert Level 3 (Warning - Avoid Nonessential Travel) being the highest.
Under the Alert Level 2, the CDC encourages people to avoid close contact with sick people, especially those with genital lesions and skin lesions, as well as sick animals.
Contact tracing and monitoring are also in place as part of health protocols against the monkeypox disease.
In particular, the public health body warns of staying away from those displaying monkeypox symptoms, such as an unexplained skin rash or lesions, as a means to curb the spread of the monkeypox virus, as cited by CNBC.
Monkeypox Cases
The elevated alert comes as the organization reported a total of 1,019 confirmed and suspected monkeypox cases in the following 29 countries as of 7:00 p.m. EDT (local time) on Monday:
- United Kingdom
- Spain
- Portugal
- Canada
- Germany
- France
- Netherlands
- United States
- Italy
- Belgium
- United Arab Emirates
- Switzerland
- Ireland
- Australia
- Czechia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- Denmark
- Argentina
- Finland
- Israel
- Latvia
- Austria
- Gibraltar
- Hungary
- Malta
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Norway
The UK is the country with the highest number of confirmed cases of 302, followed by Spain with 198 cases, Portugal with 166, and Canada with 80.
This data was retrieved from the 2022 Monkeypox Outbreak Global Map of the CDC, wherein some of the cases involved men reportedly had sexual relations with other men, and other cases include people who were living in the same household with a person infected with monkeypox.
How Does Monkeypox Spreads?
Swollen lymph nodes, headache, muscle aches, and fever are the other most common symptoms of monkeypox, according to the WHO, which assessed the global threat of monkeypox to be moderate on Sunday, May 29.
The monkeypox disease is caused by a pathogen belonging to a family of viruses called orthopoxvirus.
This entails that the monkeypox virus can spread between humans through close physical contact, bodily fluids, saliva, blood, or pus.
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