Utah is now the fourth U.S. state to probe suspected cases of monkeypox, after two individuals fell ill with symptoms of the disease following international travel, state officials reported Monday.
Officials in the state said the two adults — who have not been named — live in the same house in Salt Lake County and began experiencing a ‘mild illness’ shortly after returning from abroad. They are now in isolation and there is ‘no risk’ of wider transmission.
It was not revealed where the individuals had returned from, but the Department of Health said it was an area ‘currently experiencing monkeypox cases’.
A total of five confirmed or suspected cases of the virus — normally confined to West or Central Africa — have now been detected in America. One case has been confirmed in Massachusetts, while infections are still being probed in New York City and Florida.
Globally, more than 100 cases have been detected across at least 16 countries — mostly in Europe — with a disproportionate number among gay and bisexual men.
World Health Organization chief Dr David Heymann warned Monday the outbreak was likely sparked by a ‘random event’ that may be explained by risky sexual behavior at two mass events in Europe.
Several cases have been spotted in individuals who attended the annual pride festival that drew 80,000 people in Gran Canaria, Spain, and in people who went to a fetish festival in Antwerp, Belgium.
It comes after President Joe Biden sought to assure Americans over the monkeypox outbreak, saying vaccines and treatments were available. It was a significant departure from yesterday when he said ‘everyone’ should be concerned over the spread of the virus.
White House Covid response coordinator Dr Ashish Jha has warned the U.S. to brace for more monkeypox cases to be spotted in the near future.
Four US states have so far reported confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox. The latest is in Utah, where it has been detected in two adults who live in the same household following international travel
The outbreak has now spread to 16 countries, with Argentina and Greece today becoming the 17th and 18th nations to announce they are probing suspected cases
President Joe Biden tried to assure Americans while speaking at a press conference in Japan Monday that the nation has the vaccine supply necessary to tackle the virus. Dr Ashish Jha, the White House Covid response coordinator, warned the US should brace for more cases to be detected
Monkeypox is a virus that generally causes a fever, swollen glands and muscle aches within the first five days of infection. A contagious rash then appears on the face, before spreading to other areas of the body.
It is mostly passed on through physical contact with painful skin lesions, but can also be transmitted through droplets in the air. Scientists warn patients are infectious for as long as they have symptoms — which can be up to four weeks.
In many cases the disease is mild and clears up following treatment, but scientists say the strain triggering the current outbreak is fatal in about one in 100 cases — a similar fatality rate to when Covid first emerged.
There is no specific monkeypox-vaccine available, but officials can use a jab against smallpox — a similar virus — to treat patients. This can be administered when someone is exposed to the virus to ramp up their immunity.
Health officials in Utah said contact tracing revealed no one else in the state was at risk of having caught the virus from the pair. Contacts were defined as those who had ‘direct, close contact’ with the two adults.
It refused to reveal any further information on the pair, citing privacy regulations. The county’s executive director Dr Angela Dunn will give a briefing on the cases this afternoon.
Florida became the third U.S. state to reveal it was probing a suspected case of the virus on Sunday, in an individual who had recently traveled from abroad and was now in isolation.
New York City is also probing a suspected case in a patient that has been isolated in a Manhattan hospital.
On Sunday they tested positive for the family of viruses including monkeypox, with the CDC expected to confirm the infection in the coming days.
In Europe, the virus has been detected in more than nine countries including the UK, France, Spain and Portugal.
Health chiefs on the continent say the risk of catching the virus is ‘very low’ unless someone has multiple sexual partners, in which case it is ‘considered to be high’.
Monkeypox is endemic in West Africa, where outbreaks are normally sparked by people being exposed to infected squirrels.
It can also spread between humans through physical touch, but is rarely linked to sexual transmission.
Dr Heymann, who is an infectious disease specialist, warned today however that this is likely the key route of transmission in the current outbreak — a significant departure from the usual route.
He said: ‘What seems to be happening now is that it has got into the population as a sexual form, as a genital form, and is being spread as are sexually transmitted infections, which has amplified transmission around the world.’
‘We know monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission.’
Several cases are in people who attended the Gran Canaria pride festival between May 5 to 15, including those from Italy and Germany who fell ill after returning home.
In Belgium, its three cases have been linked to a large-scale fetish festival in Antwerp which ran from May 5 to 8.
Organisers said there is ‘reason to assume that the virus has been brought in by visitors from abroad to the festival after recent cases in other countries’.
WHO chiefs fear many more cases will be detected in the coming weeks as the virus appears to have been transmitting outside West Africa for some time.
Dr Hans Kluge, its top Europe official, said Friday: ‘As we enter the summer season… with mass gatherings, festivals and parties, I am concerned that transmission [of monkeypox] could accelerate.’
He added that cases were being detected ‘among those engaging in sexual activity’ with many not recognizing the symptoms.
Undated handout file image issued by the UK Health Security Agency of the stages of Monkeypox
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which kills up to one in ten of those infected but does not spread easily between people. The tropical disease is endemic in parts of Africa and is known for its rare and unusual rashes, bumps and lesions (file photo)
Biden today attempted to pour cold water on fears over the virus while speaking at a media briefing during his first visit to Japan as President.
Asked if the outbreak was similar to the early days of Covid, he said: ‘I just don’t think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with Covid.
‘Look, we’ve had this monkeypox in larger numbers in the past.
‘Number two, we have vaccines to take care of it. Number three, thus far, there doesn’t seem to be the need for any kind of extra efforts beyond what’s going on.’
Yesterday Biden warned: ‘Well, [the health advisors] haven’t told me the level of exposure yet, but it is something that everybody should be concerned about.
‘We’re working on it hard to figure out what we do and what vaccine, if any, may be available for it.
‘But it is a concern — if it were to spread, it’s consequential. But that’s all they’ve told me.’
America has faced several monkeypox outbreaks before, with the largest in 2003 when 47 people caught the virus after being exposed to infected dogs. Two cases were also detected last year.
Last week 13 million doses of a smallpox vaccine that also works against monkeypox were ordered for $119 million, although health chiefs insisted this was not related to the recent outbreak.
The jab — branded as Jynneous — is given as two doses four weeks apart, and can be administered shortly after potential infection to bolster immunity.
Studies showed it was about 85 percent effective against the virus.
Patients can also be given a smallpox drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week to treat patients.
Dr Jha warned yesterday on ABC ‘there will be more cases of monkeypox identified as surveillance expands in non-endemic countries’.
Seeking to calm fears, however, he added: ‘But I feel like this is a virus we understand, we have vaccines against it, we have treatments against it, and it is spread very differently than SARS-CoV-2. It is not as contagious.
‘So, I am confident we are going to be able to keep our arms around it. But we’ll have to track it very closely… to make sure we can continue to prevent further spread.’
In Europe, countries have been told to prepare vaccination plans to tackle the surging outbreak as Denmark became the latest country to be struck down with the virus.
European Union authorities are also set to publish a risk assessment, which will advise all member states to draw up an inoculation strategy to control the spread of tropical diseases.
The strategy, called ring vaccination, involves jabbing and monitoring anyone around an infected person to form a buffer of immune people to limit the disease’s spread.
Belgium yesterday became the first country to impose a compulsory 21-day monkeypox quarantine for anyone who tests positive for the virus, after recording three cases in the country.
