David Heymann, former head of WHO’s emergency department, said this is the first time that such a spread of the Monkeypox virus has been linked to two events in Spain and Belgium.
In Belgium, it was determined that the virus spread during the event called Darklands, known as the “fetish festival”, and a sauna special for homosexuals was closed in Madrid, Spain, which is associated with Monkey Flower cases.
“We know that Monkeypox is transmitted from people with lesions through close contact,” Heymann said. “Now sexual intercourse seems to accelerate its spread.” he said.
Spain’s health authorities reported that there have been 30 confirmed cases in Madrid so far. Authorities are said to be investigating a link between the Pride Parade in the Canary Islands and cases identified as having emerged from a sauna in Madrid.
‘TYPE OF SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP DOESN’T MATTER’
On the other hand, some experts say that it is still difficult to determine whether the reason Monkeypox is currently spreading in Europe is sexual intercourse or close contact related to sexual intercourse.
Virologist Mike Skinner, of Imperial College London, said: “By nature, sexual intercourse requires close contact. This is expected to increase the spread of the virus. The sexual orientation of the person or the mode of transmission is not important here.” uses expressions.
Authorities in the UK said that the majority of cases were “gay or bisexual” men with no history of travel to Africa. Similar statements were made in Portugal and Spain.
THE WORLD IS NOT PREPARED FOR OUTLOOKS
‘The WHO European Director has warned that events such as gatherings, festivals and parties in the summer will increase cases of Monkeypox.
At least 90 cases of Monkeypox have been reported so far in many countries, including the UK, Spain, Israel, France, Switzerland, the USA and Australia. Austria, Norway, Switzerland and Austria announced their first confirmed cases over the weekend. Belgium started a 3-week quarantine for Monkeypox patients.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “It is clear that the world is unprepared for epidemics. That’s why we established a Health Emergency Follow-up Unit in Berlin last year to increase collaborative knowledge and technology sharing among member countries. As an organization, member countries’ technical, operational and technical measures against future epidemics as well as the current epidemic.” We will continue our efforts to be more prepared in terms of logistics and logistics.” he said. (Euronews)