in Brazil, primates attacked because suspected of having a link with the disease

They are the collateral victims of the epidemic. The World Health Organization was forced to recall, Tuesday, August 9, that the monkeypox epidemic raging around the world is not linked to these animals. “People need to know that the transmission we are seeing now is between humans”WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris insisted during a regular press briefing in Geneva when asked about attacks on apes in Brazil.

It was the Brazilian news site G1 which revealed that a dozen primates were poisoned, and some injured, in less than a week in a nature reserve in Rio do Preto, in the state of Sao Paulo. Others were stoned or chased or poisoned in different Brazilian cities, according to G1, citing the association fighting illegal wildlife trafficking, Renctas, which posted videos of the violence on his Instagram account.

As a reminder, the term sign pox was used when this virus was discovered in 1958 in monkeys in a laboratory in Denmark. This virus can be transmitted from animals to humans, but the recent explosion of cases worldwide is due to transmission between humans during close contact, explained Margaret Harris.

The people “should definitely not prey on animals”she said, emphasizing that the best way to curb the spread of the virus was to recognize the symptoms, get help from a doctor and take “precautions to prevent transmission”.