Health officials in North America and Europe have identified dozens of suspected or confirmed cases of monkeypox since early May, raising fears that the disease, endemic to parts of Africa, is spreading.

Canada is the latest country to report investigating more than a dozen suspected cases of the disease, after Spain and Portugal identified more than 40 probable and confirmed cases.

The UK has confirmed nine cases since May 6, and the US reported on Wednesday the case of a Massachusetts man who tested positive for the virus after visiting Canada.

The disease, which most people recover within weeks and can only be fatal in rare cases, has infected thousands of people in parts of Central and West Africa in recent years, but is rare in Europe and North Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it is working on new outbreaks in coordination with British and European health officials.

“We need to better understand the extent of monkeypox in endemic countries to understand the truth about how it circulates and the risk it poses to humans, as well as the risk of exporting it,” epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said at a press conference. she said. From WHO on Tuesday.

The Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement that the first case in the UK was detected in a person who had traveled to Nigeria, but subsequent cases were likely through community transmission.

“The latest cases, along with case reports from countries in Europe, confirm our initial concern that monkeypox may be spreading in our communities,” said Susan Hopkins, medical adviser to the British government.

WHO said it is also investigating the majority of reported cases were men who were gay, bisexual or had sex with men.

“We’re seeing transmission between men who have sex with men,” WHO Deputy Director-General Ibrahima Socé Fall said at a press conference. “This is new information that we need to research properly to better understand the dynamics of local broadcasting in the UK and beyond.”

‘No risk to the population’

The British health safety agency noted that monkeypox does not qualify as a sexually transmitted disease and stressed that “it can be transmitted through direct contact during sexual intercourse”.

“Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can contract smallpox through contact with bodily fluids, smallpox sores, or shared objects (such as clothing and bedding) contaminated with the fluids or wounds of a person with smallpox.” Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement Wednesday.

The institution added that household disinfectants can kill the virus on surfaces.

The US agency explained that its symptoms included fever, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes before causing a chickenpox-like rash on the face and body.

The Massachusetts Department of Health said the state’s case – first confirmed in the US this year – occurred in a patient who was recently in Canada and “doesn’t pose any risk to the population.” People are hospitalized and in good health. “

Health officials in the Canadian province of Quebec said they are investigating at least 13 suspected cases of monkeypox, public broadcaster CBC reported on Wednesday.

The cases were reported to Montreal authorities after they were diagnosed at several specialist clinics.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) told the CBC it asked “public health authorities and relevant laboratories across Canada to be vigilant and investigate possible cases.”

According to the CDC, no cases of monkeypox were reported for 40 years before the disease resurfaced in Nigeria in 2017.