Monkeypox Spreading Mostly Through Sex: WHO

CNBC: Monkeypox Outbreak Is Primarily Spreading Through Sex, WHO Officials Say
An outbreak of the monkeypox virus in North America and Europe is primarily spreading through sex among men with about 200 confirmed and suspected cases across at least a dozen countries, World Health Organization officials said Monday. The outbreak has quickly advanced across Europe and North America over the last week and is expected to be far more widespread as more doctors look for the signs and symptoms. Two confirmed and one suspected case of monkeypox in the U.K. were reported to the WHO just 10 days ago, the first cases this year outside of Africa where the virus has generally circulated at low levels over the last 40 years, the organization said. (Kopecki, 5/23)

CNBC: CDC Officials Sound Alarm For Gay, Bisexual Men As Monkeypox Spreads
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday alerted gay and bisexual men that monkeypox appears to be spreading in the community globally, warning people to take precautions if they have been in close contact with someone who may have the virus and to be on the lookout for symptoms. Dr. John Brooks, a CDC official, emphasized that anyone can contract monkeypox through close personal contact regardless of sexual orientation. However, Brooks said many of the people affected globally so far are men who identify as gay or bisexual. Though some groups have greater chance of exposure to monkeypox right now, the risk isn’t limited only to the gay and bisexual community, he cautioned. (Kimball, 5/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: Monkeypox Outbreak And Pride Events: CDC Advises Precautions For Gay And Bisexual Men
Federal health officials are advising gay and bisexual men, and their health care providers, to look out for symptoms of monkeypox ahead of upcoming Pride festivities, after a handful of presumed cases associated with possible sexual transmission have been identified in the United States. One confirmed case and four suspected cases of monkeypox, a more benign version of smallpox, have been found in the United States, in Massachusetts, New York, Florida and Utah, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The confirmed case is in a Massachusetts man who had recently traveled to Canada. The four other cases are in men with recent travel, too. (Allday, 5/23)

USA Today: CDC: Monkeypox Cases May Be Mistaken For A Sexual Transmitted Disease
Unlike most known cases of monkeypox, where the telltale rash usually appears first on the hands, among the current cases many rashes are first appearing around the genitals or anus, CDC officials said in an afternoon news conference with media. With beach season kicking off this weekend, public health officials want to be sure that Americans and their health care providers are aware of the possibility that a rash plus travel history might indicate monkeypox rather than a more common sexually transmitted disease, like herpes or syphilis, which it can resemble. (Weintraub, 5/23)

NPR: Monkeypox Isn't Much Of A Threat To The Public, A White House Official Says
The risk posed to the U.S. general public from ongoing outbreaks of monkeypox cases reported in Europe, the U.K. and Canada is low, a White House official told Morning Edition on Monday. Dr. Raj Panjabi, Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the National Security Council, says the fewer than 10 cases seen in the United States so far have not been severe — "flu-like symptoms and a rash which can be painful but resolves in two to four weeks" — and aren't likely to get much worse. "Historically in countries with weaker health care systems less than 1% of patients have died from this milder strain," Panjabi said. "We have access to vaccines and even treatments here in the U.S., and so the risk we believe is substantially lower." (Dean Hopkins, 5/23)

Monkeypox cases appear to be spreading —

ABC News: 1 Confirmed, 6 Presumptive Monkeypox Cases In US, Government Releasing Vaccines For Exposed
There is one confirmed positive case in Massachusetts. There is one presumptive positive case in New York, one in Washington state, two in Utah and two in Florida. (Salzman, 5/23)

The Boston Globe: Boston Monkeypox Patient Had 200 Contacts
Health officials have identified 200 people who came in contact with a patient who was hospitalized last week in Boston with the monkeypox virus, a CDC official said Monday, adding that “the vast majority” were health care workers. The illness is not considered easily transmissible and, unlike COVID-19, people are not contagious until after they have symptoms. The World Health Organization has identified more than 100 suspected and confirmed cases of the virus in a recent outbreak in Europe and North America. The illness is rarely seen outside of West and Central Africa, though WHO officials said on Monday that there was no sign the virus had mutated into a more easily transmissible form. (Freyer, 5/23)

Salt Lake Tribune: What Should Utahns Traveling Out Of The U.S. Do About Monkeypox?
Utahns who are traveling to West or Central Africa soon — or plan to go to countries that recently have reported monkeypox cases — should consider making an appointment with a travel medicine clinic, Salt Lake County health officials advise. The guidance came Monday as county health officials announced probable cases of monkeypox in two adults from the same Salt Lake County household. The adults had traveled to an area of Europe earlier this month that has since reported monkeypox cases, and they developed symptoms afterward. There are currently no U.S. travel restrictions to areas in Africa where the rare disease is considered endemic, as well as to other international destinations where monkeypox has recently been reported. (5/23)

NBC News: Map: Countries With Confirmed Monkeypox Cases In The 2022 Outbreak
At least 160 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported this month in non-African countries, according to Global.health, a group that gathers infectious disease data. All but 10 of those cases have been in Europe: 56 in the United Kingdom, 41 in Spain, 37 in Portugal and single-digit case counts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. (Bendix and Carman, 5/23)

How to spot monkeypox —

The Hill: Here Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Monkeypox
Monkeypox patients usually first present symptoms within one to two weeks following infection but have reported onset as early as five days after exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some patients may not experience any symptoms for up to 21 days.  Monkeypox patients first experience symptoms like fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. The swelling of the lymph nodes makes the virus distinctive to other diseases that mimic monkeypox’s other initial symptoms, including smallpox, chickenpox and measles. (Schonfeld, 5/23)

Bloomberg: Monkeypox Can Be Contained If People Recognize It, WHO Says
The recent outbreak of monkeypox is unusual but is still containable, according to the World Health Organization. “It’s not something we’ve seen over the last few years,” said Sylvie Briand, director of the WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention department Tuesday. She said it’s still containable and that countries can cut the chain of transmission by raising awareness and getting people to recognize the symptoms early. (Gretler, 5/24)