Most people recover within several weeks without requiring hospital treatment.Īt least 172 infections have been confirmed worldwide, with scientists probing 87 more across 17 countries, including the US, Spain and Portugal. Typically, the virus causes fever, chills, rash and lesions on the face or genitals. Monkeypox cases so far have been mild, with no deaths reported.
'We need to slow it down, but it does not spread in the air and we have vaccines to protect against it,' he said. The Darklands fetish festival, in Antwerp, combines education, entertainment, shopping and parties.ĭr Heymann, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said monkeypox is unlikely to trigger widespread transmission because it 'is not Covid'. It was attended by people who have tested positive for the monekypox virus afterwards, with public health services from the Canary Islands now investigating the any links between the cases and the LGBT+ celebrations. Held between May 5 and May 15, it attracts visitors from across the continent. The Gran Canarian festival, Maspalomas, is being investigated after being linked to numerous monkeypox cases in Madrid, Italy and Tenerife, it emerged over the weekend. Scientists say it will be difficult to establish whether the spread is being driven by sex or merely close contact.ĭr Mike Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, said: 'By nature, sexual activity involves intimate contact, which one would expect to increase the likelihood of transmission, whatever a person's sexual orientation and irrespective of the mode of transmission.'ĭr Andrea Ammon, the director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, warned 'the likelihood of further spread of the virus through close contact, for example during sexual activities among persons with multiple sexual partners, is considered to be high'. Health officials say most of the known cases in Europe have been among men who have sex with men, but anyone can be infected through close contact with a sick person, their clothing or bedsheets. The theory marks a significant departure from the disease's typical pattern of spread in central and western Africa, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates.
'There’s reason to assume that the virus has been brought in by visitors from abroad to the festival after recent cases in other countries,' the organisers said. Health officials in Belgium confirmed three cases of monkeypox among visitors at Darklands. The fetish festival says it combines education, entertainment, shopping and parties. Spanish health chiefs said 'several' confirmed cases in Madrid attended the event but it is 'not yet possible to know if one of them is patient zero of this outbreak or if they all got infected there'. Public health services from the Canary Islands are investigating the any links between the cases and the LGBT+ celebrations. It was attended by people who tested positive for the monkeypox virus afterwards. The festival featured international artists, a parade, boat trips and pool parties. Spanish health chiefs have also linked many cases to a single 'sauna' in Madrid. Organisers have since said there is ‘reason to assume’ someone at the event was infected. Meanwhile, three cases in Belgium have been linked with Darklands – a large-scale fetish festival in Antwerp, held from May 5-8. 'And then there were these international events that seeded the outbreak around the world, into the US and other European countries.'ĭespite not naming either festival, health chiefs tasked with containing the virus have already begun tracing cases back to the Gran Canarian gay pride festival – attended by up to 80,000 people between May 5-15.
'It's very possible there was somebody who got infected, developed lesions on the genitals, hands or somewhere else, and then spread it to others when there was sexual or close physical contact. He said: '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. Sexual transmission at two festivals in Europe may have sparked the world’s escalating monkeypox outbreak, a World Health Organization expert has claimed.ĭr David Heymann, who used to head the WHO's emergencies department, revealed it was the leading theory behind the origins of the current cluster of cases. Dr David Heymann, who used to head the WHO's emergencies department, said someone with the tell-tale monkeypox lesions likely 'spread it to others when there was sexual or close physical contact'