Belgium health authorities introduced a compulsory 21-day quarantine for monkeypox patients after confirming four cases of the infection in the last seven days..Belgium’s Risk Assessment Group and its health authorities said those infected will need to isolate for the 21-day period..The Belgian outbreak has been connected with a gay fetish festival called Darklands, where three party-goers tested positive for the virus..Organizers at the Darklands festival said, “There’s reason to assume the virus has been brought in by visitors from abroad to the festival after recent cases in other countries.”.Dr. David Heymann, former head of the WHO’s emergencies department, told the Associated Press the leading theory to explaining the transmission of the virus was sexual contact at raves in Spain and Belgium..Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals..“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,” Heymann said..They circulated warning information from the government saying those infected would have to avoid any physical sexual contact during the three-week quarantine period..According to Belgian daily Le Soir, the Belgian Institute of Tropical Medicine said the risk of an epidemic in the country was low..Microbiologist Emmanuel André, who heads the National Reference lab for COVID-19 in Belgium, tweeted during the weekend a fourth case of monkeypox had been confirmed in the country..“This patient is being treated in Wallonia and is linked to the Antwerp event in which two other people were infected,” he said, referring to a festival in the port city held in May..Over the weekend, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that there were 92 confirmed cases in 12 different countries, with 28 suspected cases under investigation..Cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the UK, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, the US, Canada, and Australia..On Sunday, UK Chief Medical Adviser at the Health Security Agency (HSA) Susan Hopkins told the BBC they were “detecting more cases on a daily basis” of monkeypox..Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the UK government was taking it “very, very seriously.”.Late Monday night, the US government opted to order millions of doses of monkeypox vaccine, JYNNEOS..In a press release from European pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic, the company said the US exercised a $119-million option on the doses. The vaccines were purchased through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)..Additionally, on Thursday Bavarian Nordic said it was also to supply “an undisclosed European country” with the vaccinations..The FDA statement included the possibility that this vaccine was necessary for the market in case of a biowarfare event concerning the “intentional release” of smallpox..Bavarian Nordic’s president and CEO said in a statement Thursday, “While the full circumstances around the current monkeypox cases in Europe remain to be elucidated, the speed of which these have evolved, combined with the potential for infections beyond the initial case going undetected, calls for a rapid and coordinated approach by the health authorities, and we are pleased to assist in this emergency situation. Infection control has been a high priority for societies during COVID-19, and this situation is an unfortunate reminder that we cannot let our guard down, but must continue to build and strengthen our infectious disease preparedness to keep the world open.”.According to the US Centers for Disease Control, “monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name ‘monkeypox.’.The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox. Since then monkeypox has been reported in humans in other central and western African countries.”.Health officials warned Monday Monkeypox could spread to pets and wildlife and become endemic in Europe..A rapid risk-assessment published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said pet rodents should be isolated in facilities where monitoring can take place if the pets belong to close contacts of people who’ve tested positive for the virus..Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said the federal public health agency does not know how widespread the disease has become in Canada..“We need to learn more about it. Has it evolved as a change to something different and in terms of the mode of transmission, and so on? There’s probably been some hidden chains of transmission that could have occurred for quite a number of weeks, given the sort of global situation that we're seeing right now,” Tam said.Tam’s deputy, Dr. Howard Njoo, said this means everyone is susceptible to monkeypox..“I would say, generally, the entire population is susceptible to monkeypox,” Njoo said Friday..Health authorities worldwide said human-to-human transmission is rare and the infection is mild.
