Patients with "monkeypox" who have symptoms similar to smallpox have been reported one after another in the United Kingdom and the United States, and health authorities in each country are rushing to investigate the transmission route.
British health officials have announced that a total of nine monkeypox cases have been confirmed by the 18th of this month.
The first confirmed patient was a returnee from a trip to Nigeria in West Africa, and it is believed that two family members were also infected.
On the other hand, the transmission route of the remaining 6 patients has not been clarified and is currently under investigation.
In addition, the CDC = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States announced on the 18th that a case of monkeypox was confirmed in eastern Massachusetts.
The patient has recently traveled to Canada, but is investigating where he was infected.
Monkeypox is a viral infection found primarily in Africa, but the CDC is associated with multiple cases reported from countries such as the United Kingdom and other countries where monkeypox is not normally reported, such as Spain and Portugal. We are going to investigate the spread.
The WHO (World Health Organization) is also calling on health authorities in each country to strengthen their readiness to detect patients early and to quickly track those who come into contact with them if they are found.