An epidemic of MonkeyPox hits Europe and approaches Morocco

A new respiratory epidemic, called MonkeyPox, is hitting several European countries including Spain. The epidemic, new on the continent, worries Morocco, which is about to launch its Marhaba operation during the summer season and has just simplified the conditions of access to the territory.

In Morocco, no case of the MonkeyPox infection (monkey pox, editor’s note) has yet been announced, but the proximity to Spain and Portugal, but also to the Canary Islands, where cases have been recorded raises certain questions, in particular that of early prevention and management in the event of the appearance of symptoms. Asked several times by MoroccoLatestNews FR on this subject, the Ministry of Health did not provide answers.

In Spain, the Ministry of Health has confirmed 7 cases of MonkeyPox and is investigating 24 suspected cases that have been isolated at home, and according to hospital sources consulted by El Pais, the number of suspected cases hospitalized is estimated between 40 and 50 people .

The course of the disease is manifested by symptoms such as rashes, muscle aches and fever, which are not serious.

“Unlike Covid, the super long subclinical incubation time of #monkeypox is a concern – up to 12 days can wreak a lot of havoc in terms of when you find out you have it. We have to be careful because there could be presymptomatic transmission – we shouldn’t say it can’t happen.”said American epidemiologist Eric Feigle-Ding.

The Spanish health authorities have launched a nationwide health alert regarding this infection after the detection of 8 positive cases, and the government is preparing to order thousands of doses of smallpox vaccines. At a time when MonkeyPox was limited to certain countries in West and Central Africa, several cases began to be detected in several Western countries, with the very first case detected in the United States. Italy has just confirmed on Wednesday a first case from the Canary Islands and Sweden has also identified a first case.

Spain is the latest European country to register a case of MonkeyPox, just two days after 3 cases were announced in Portugal earlier this week. Portugal has 2 other pending cases and 15 are under investigation.
But it is especially Great Britain which reported the existence of an epidemic at the beginning of May with 9 people infected, then 4 others. And the first infected patient had traveled to Nigeria, where he would have been infected, but the other patients who followed had not traveled outside the country.

According to initial information, a common denominator has been observed between carriers of MonkeyPox, all are male and have homosexual sex, yet this infection is not sexually transmitted and it is through the respiratory route that contamination occurs . The Spanish Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, affirmed in the sense that it is a virus and not a sexually transmitted disease.

In addition, two strains of this virus currently exist, one West African, while the other is Central African. The latter would be less complicated than the first.

For the moment, the health protocol for this disease is not yet clear. Recommendations for people with symptoms of MonkeyPox are to contact their medicine by phone, self-isolate, and avoid physical contact with people and pets until the rash clears.