“The disease caused by the monkeypox virus is quite rare in humans, but cases of transmission from animals to humans and within the human population are possible,” the virologist said.
Agranovsky added that it is still impossible to talk about an outbreak, since isolated cases, mostly imported, have been registered.
“However, if society as a whole can not worry yet, specialists cannot relax.
The features of the strain (or strains) of the virus that came to Europe and North America will soon be studied, possible causes and ways of transmission of the virus will be investigated.
It’s too early to draw conclusions,” the specialist emphasized.
He noted that the monkeypox virus causes lethality from one to 10%, depending on the strain, and is quite slightly contagious.
“By passing from person to person, it loses its pathogenicity.
These circumstances do not allow us to recognize it as a possible causative agent of the epidemic.
So far, not a single case has been registered in Russia (possibly due to restrictions on contacts with other countries).
There is no reason to panic, but virologists and epidemiologists should be on alert.
Measures should be taken to monitor the condition of people arriving from countries of potential risk.
It would make sense to test monkeypox virus arrivals, ”concluded the interlocutor of RT.
Earlier, the official representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tarik Yazarevich, said that 37 cases of monkeypox infection were registered in the world.