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DOZENS OF CASES of monkeypox have recently been confirmed or are suspected in parts of Europe and North America.
The viral disease is usually confined to Central and Western Africa, but its emergence in countries that rarely experience outbreaks has raised concerns about how it is spreading.
No cases have yet been confirmed in Ireland, but authorities are preparing health services for its possible arrival following confirmed cases in the UK, Portugal and Sweden.
Although the virus is only fatal in a small number of cases, it can cause uncomfortable symptoms for weeks and there is no cure for it.
Here’s what we know about the virus and its spread outside of Africa so far.
What is monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic illness (that is, a virus which has transmitted to humans from animals – like Covid-19) with symptoms like those experienced by those who contract smallpox.
It mainly spreads in remote parts of Central and West Africa, and there are two strains of the virus: West African monkeypox and Congo Basin monkeypox.
Of these, the Congo Basin strain is more severe with a fatality rate of up to 10%, but it is the milder West African strain (with a fatality rate of around 1%) which is currently spreading in Europe and North America.
The virus is usually passed to people when they come into very close contact with rodents and primates, or if they eat infected bushmeat.
However, there are also cases of human-to-human transmission, particularly among those who come into close physical contact with infected lesions, bodily fluids or recently contaminated materials like clothes or bedding.
Transmission can also occur via respiratory droplets – again, like Covid-19 – though this usually requires prolonged face-to-face contact.
Person-to-person transmission generally happens among close family members and through sexual contact, and the risk of community transmission is deemed to be very low.
What are the symptoms?
Cases of monkeypox resemble smallpox, a related virus that was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980 following years of vaccination campaigns.
Initial symptoms of monkeypox infection include a fever (of 38 Celsius or higher), headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion.
Patients will also develop a rash, which starts on their face and spreads to the mouth, and raised red spots that develop into blisters within three days. If the virus has been transmitted via sexual contact, this rash may also begin to develop in the genital areas.
The rash will go through a number of different stages before finally forming scabs and falling off. Symptoms tend to last from two to four weeks.
The most severe cases tend to occur in children and those with weaker immune systems, and are related to the extent of virus exposure, a patient’s health status and the nature of any complications they develop.
These complications can include secondary infections, bronchopneumonia, sepsis, encephalitis, and infection of the cornea which could result in loss of vision.
There is no cure for monkeypox, and any treatment is simply for the relief of uncomfortable symptoms, like pain or itchiness, keeping patients warm and comfortable, and making sure they get plenty of fluids.
Where is monkeypox spreading and why?
According to the US Centres for Disease Control, there were no reported cases of monkeypox for 40 years before it re-emerged in Nigeria in 2017.
However, the virus has recently started spreading between people in places where this has not previously happened – namely in Europe and North America.
Since the beginning of May, health authorities on both continents have detected dozens of suspected or confirmed cases of monkeypox.
The current outbreak has seen transmission between humans reported for the first time in Europe, where there is no known epidemiological links to West and Central Africa.
In continental Europe, Spain and Portugal have detected more than 40 possible and verified cases. Closer to home, the UK has confirmed nine cases since 6 May. Sweden also reported its first case of the virus today.
For context, seven cases of monkeypox have been reported in total in the UK in the three years before 2022, which were mainly associated with travel to countries where the virus tends to circulate.
The first case this year was reported by the UK Health Security Agency on 7 May, and is believed to have been imported. Two more cases – both people living in the same house who had no history of travel or contact with the first case – followed on 14 May.
Another four cases were then confirmed by the UK’s Health and Safety Authority (UKHSA) on 16 May, all without a history of travel to Central or West Africa or contact with the cases reported on 7 and 14 May.
All of the latter four those cases involved men who have sex with men – the first time this has happened in the world.
Then on 18 May, Portugal reported five confirmed and another 20 suspected cases of monkeypox, all of whom were young men. Spain has also reported eight suspected cases.
The extent of community transmission in Europe is currently unknown, but targeted testing of those with symptoms of the virus is beginning in affected countries.
As of yet, there are no cases reported in Ireland, but the HSE has co-ordinated a team to actively monitor the situation and prepare services in Ireland for the possibility of cases arising here.
Yesterday, the US also confirmed its first case of monkeypox in a man who had recently travelled to Canada, where no cases have yet been reported but where the situation is being monitored.
What is the current public health advice?
In Ireland, the HPSC says that the risk of spread in the wider community is low.
However, they also warn that recent cases in the UK among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) suggest that there may be a higher risk among this group in Ireland.
The HSE is advising those who self-identify as gbMSM, especially those who have travelled to London, the UK or Portugal in the past month, to be alert to any unusual rashes or lesions on any part of their or their partner’s body, especially their genitalia.
If any such changes are noticed, affected people are told to contact their GP or local STI clinic for advice.
Meanwhile, the WHO has urged intensive public health measures to continue in the UK, and for contact tracing and source tracing, case searching, and local rash-illness surveillance to be strengthened among gbMSM and in the wider community.
They also say that anyone who is sick during travel or after return from Central or West Africa should report their symptoms to a healthcare professional, including information about all recent travel and immunisation history.
Those travelling to these areas are told to avoid contact with sick or dead animals that could harbour monkeypox, such as rodents, marsupials and primates, and refrain from eating or handling bush meat.
- Contains reporting from © AFP 2022.
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I was under the impression that the county boundary wouldn’t change, the areas in question would just be administered by the other council. This situation makes perfect sense when you consider places in county Clare in the vicinity of Limerick city or Waterford port been in kilkenny or these areas of athlone for example
Yea, I’m still not clear. Are they talking about changing actual county borders or just local authority boundaries?
Most of Limerick City west of the Shannon was in Clare and in Connacht for that matter
What are you on about?
@Ken Mitchell: The county border boundries as such won’t change, this isssue concerns the area of Monksland which is to the West of Athlone and therefore in Co. Roscommon. Monklands has a large retail sector, industrial estate and residential housing estates all which make a very significant contribution to the Roscommon County Council coffers. If this was lost to Athlone Town Council it would represent a massive fall in revenue for Roscommon which impacts the rest of the county hence why it is such an emotive subject
No, they wanted to actually change the border. This would habe resulted in monksland, Roscommon’s second largest town now being in westmeath.
@Tweety McTweeter: The government doesn’t have the authority to tell the people or the GAA what county they are in. This was administrative only, and would’ve made a whole heap of sense.
As with Kilkenny and Waterford, people seem concerned only with the revenues their local authority would lose and which a ‘rival’ local authority would gain. Yet, the areas in question are densely populated and require that revenue for their own maintenance. This is the same attitude that had Leitrim zoning enough residential for a city, and Meath trying to building enough houses for the entire region during the celtic tiger years. Just collect as much revenue as possible, and compete with your neighbouring county to do so. As public policy, it makes zero sense.
The fact is that if you lose the commercial rates from an area, you also lose the responsibility of looking after that area. When you are unable to live up to that responsibility because the area in question is part of a city/town in another council’s area, maybe you losing the revenue is an acceptable sacrifice to avoid the mismanagement of the densely populated urban periphery.
In this case, Athlone will continue to be split between two counties, for reasons that are entirely resolvable. Given that Westmeath and Roscommon belong to the same state, I’m sure there could’ve been a transitional arrangement to ease the apparent burden of losing a cash cow.
It’s heated border disputes like this that make me glad we are part of the EU in order to preserve the peace.
Everyone who lives near the Roscommon/Westmeath border knows the savages on the other side are absolute animals with no respect for their neighbours.
If you ever want a visual definition of what a “bacon & cabbage head” looks like….look no further than Michael Fitzmaurice.
Better than looking at a scrawny no face such as yourself ‘eircodes’ I’d say you’re about as attractive as a rotten turnip judging by your snot flicking comments.
@Get Lost Eircodes:
Play the man good lad. Did you get your eircode yet?
Just as long as the y don’t construct a ‘Hard Boundary’ where innocent Hill Walkers might fall over any holes left in it.
Really doesn’t matter … English set the boundaries after the conquest…. boundaries are just a convenience.
It was actually the Normans who set the borders – hence why they’re named ‘CountyX’ rather than ‘Xshire’, ‘county’ being derived from Old French.
Pure and simple, bring back ming the merciless!
You might have to review that Harry…
Which part? The shire (‘scir’ as it was in Anglo-Saxon) was an existing unit of division in England when the Normans invaded. The Normans simply tacked ‘-shire’ onto most of the existing land divisions (apart from places like Kent for example which were named for old kingdoms). In Ireland on the other hand they started more or less from scratch. Contrast with Scotland, which also uses ‘shire’ rather than ‘county’ – this began under the English-speaking population that lay outside of Norman control.
Terrible article, doesn’t explain the situation.
” he was concerned any change could disrupt his constituent’s lives.”
excuse my ignorance, but in what way would it affect people’s lives? it sounds dramatic
From an Englishman’s perspective, county boundaries seem to matter a lot more in Ireland than they do over here. Take for instance how the GAA still rigidly adheres to the 32 historic county model. Or how any discussion of Irish partition invariably makes reference to 6/26 counties even though in NI they now use districts rather than counties as political units.
The English completed the shiring of Ireland when Wicklow was given county status. The GAA then used the English county system as a base for their own competitions. GAA should grovel on its knees and thank Mother England for bestowing on them such a useful organizational unit. Notice how embedded this is when the new counties in the Dublin area cannot field their own county teams, for example Fingal.
It’s funny how even in the North, unionists identify with the traditional counties also.
have your say