Around 1,700 people are currently infected in France with monkeypox, Health Minister François Braun said on Monday. “Today, there are around 1,700 people who are infected in France, with a profile mainly of men who have sex with men”, said the minister on BFMTV. “But contamination can occur through contact with the lesions. So you have to be extremely careful”said François Braun, who also announced the opening of a vaccination center in Paris on Tuesday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its highest level of alert on Sunday, saying the fast-spreading outbreak constituted a global public health emergency. So far this year, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in more than 75 countries. The epidemic has caused five deaths in Africa.