In article <t1g0sb$30vaj$72@news.freedyn.de>
<governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Start putting queers in jail for failing to control themselves and spreading a disease.
>

LONDON -- Since May, nearly 90 countries have reported more than
31,000 cases of monkeypox.

The World Health Organization classified the escalating outbreak
of the once-rare disease as an international emergency in July;
the U.S. declared it a national emergency last week.

Outside of Africa, 98% of cases are in men who have sex with
men. With only a limited global supply of vaccines, authorities
are racing to stop monkeypox before it becomes entrenched as a
new disease.

CAN MONKEYPOX BE CONTAINED?

Theoretically, yes. The virus does not spread easily and there
is a vaccine. But there are only about 16 million doses
available now and only one company makes the shot.

Except for Africa, there is no sign of sustained monkeypox
transmission beyond men who have sex with men, meaning that
stopping spread among that group could effectively end the
outbreak. Last week, British scientists said there were �early
signs� the monkeypox cases in the U.K. � which once had the
world�s biggest outbreak outside Africa � had peaked.

IS THIS ANOTHER PANDEMIC?

No. A pandemic means that a disease outbreak has spread to the
entire world. Monkeypox does not transmit as quickly as the
coronavirus and stopping it will not require dramatic
interventions like the COVID-19 lockdowns.

WHO�s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he
declared monkeypox an emergency in part to prompt countries to
take the epidemic seriously, saying there is still an
opportunity to contain the disease before it becomes a global
problem.

HOW DOES IT SPREAD?

Monkeypox spread typically requires skin-to-skin or skin-to-
mouth contact with an infected patient�s lesions. People can
also be infected through contact with the clothing or bedsheets
of someone who has monkeypox lesions.

It also can be spread through contact with respiratory droplets,
but scientists are still trying to figure out how often that
happens. British health officials say they haven't confirmed any
instances of airborne transmission.

WHO IS GETTING INFECTED?

A large percentage of cases have been in gay and bisexual men.
The initial outbreaks in Europe and North America were likely
triggered by sex at two raves in Spain and Belgium.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 99% of monkeypox cases in the U.S. are men. Of
those, 94% reported sexual contact with other men in the three
weeks before they developed symptoms.

Still, anyone can catch the virus if they are in close contact
with an infected person or fabrics that touched an infected
person.

WHO IS GETTING VACCINATED?

With supplies limited, health officials are not recommending
mass vaccination. They are suggesting the shots for health
workers, people who have been in close contact with an infected
person, and men at high risk of catching monkeypox.

Officials are also trying to stretch supplies of the vaccine,
Jynneos. It requires two doses, but many places are only giving
one dose.

U.S. health officials on Tuesday authorized a new strategy that
would allow health professionals to vaccinate up to five people
� instead of one � with each vial. The approach uses just a
fraction of the typical amount of vaccine and administers it
with an injection just under the skin rather than into deeper
tissue. Recipients would still get two shots a month apart.

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO LOWER MY RISK?

WHO�s Tedros recommended that men at risk of catching monkeypox
consider making �safe choices� and reducing their sexual
partners �for the moment.�

Britain�s Health Security Agency has advised people to check
themselves for monkeypox lesions before they have sex or go to a
social event, noting that most of the country�s cases are
believed to have originated at festivals, saunas and other
venues where sex has taken place. Anyone with monkeypox lesions
should isolate until they are completely healed, which can take
up to three weeks.

WHAT�S THE CONNECTION TO AFRICA?

Monkeypox has been endemic for decades in parts of central and
west Africa, where people have mostly been sickened after
contact with infected wild animals like rodents and squirrels.
The acting director of Africa�s top public health agency said
last week that sex among gay and bisexual men was �not relevant�
to the continent�s outbreak, with about 40% of cases among women.

Scientists think the monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North
America originated in Africa long before the disease started
spreading. Samples from cases in Europe show dozens of
mutations, suggesting the initial virus was silently spreading
for months or years before the current epidemics were detected.

The version of monkeypox spreading in Europe and North America
has a lower fatality rate than the one circulating in Africa.
Countries that didn't see many monkeypox cases before this
outbreak have reported a handful of deaths, while Africa has had
at least 100 suspected deaths this year.

WHO IS AT HIGHER RISK FOR SERIOUS ILLNESS?

Most people infected with monkeypox recover without treatment,
but it can cause more severe symptoms like brain inflammation
and in rare cases, death.

Monkeypox can be serious in children, pregnant women and people
with underlying health conditions, like cancer, tuberculosis or
HIV. In the U.S., the CDC says about 40% of people with
monkeypox also have HIV.

The longer the current outbreaks continue, the greater the
chances the virus could spread in other communities, similar to
how HIV was first spotted in gay men before becoming established
more widely.

�There is some crossover between the sexual networks of gay and
bisexual men and networks of heterosexual people with high
sexual activity, so it is possible we could see monkeypox more
widely,� said Dr. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at
Britain�s University of East Anglia. �If that happens, we may
have a much bigger problem.�

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/explainer-spread-
monkeypox-stopped-88207943