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After making little of it, the World Health Organization has raised its highest level of alert over the outbreak of monkeypox. 17,000 people have been infected in 74 countries.
With 1,560 cases of monkey pox in France and 17,000 worldwide, the epidemic is gaining ground. The WHO has triggered its maximum level of alert. “We are in the presence of an epidemic which has spread rapidly throughout the world, by new modes of transmission of which we do not know much“said the organization’s chief executive, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The disease is transmitted by prolonged contact with the skin, mainly during sexual intercourse, but contact with the laundry of a sick person could be sufficient. For now, 95% of cases in France concern homosexual men with multiple partners. If the disease is not fatal, it causes pustules painful and serious cases can occur. Targeted prevention is needed. An already existing vaccine can help protect against the disease: that against smallpox.
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