US President Joe Biden has stated that the outbreak of monkeypox is something that “should concern everyone”.
“We are working hard on this to understand what we should be doing,” Biden told reporters, adding that US health officials are looking into possible treatments and vaccines.
The incubation period for monkeypox is on average from 7 to 14 days. Symptoms of the virus are thought to be less severe than those of smallpox. With monkeypox, the patient begins to feel fever, muscle aches, chills, an increase in lymph nodes. Then a rash appears on the face, as with chickenpox or syphilis. In total, the disease lasts from two to four weeks.
Monkeypox virus has recently been detected in Australia, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, Portugal, USA, France, Switzerland and Sweden.
The World Health Organization had earlier confirmed that there are 92 confirmed cases of monkeypox infection in the world, and another 28 people are suspected of this disease.