After the death of monkeys in the interior of Sao Paulo and elsewhere, the WHO (World Health Organization) insisted today that killing animals would have no role in stopping the monkeypox epidemic and said it was already looking for a new name for the disease. , so as not to stigmatize or prejudice any animal.
Monkey deaths have been recorded in some places in Brazil in recent days. For example, eight animals were found dead in Rio Preto (SP). Police suspect they were attacked by the public because of cases of monkeypox.
Earlier this month, WHO declared an international emergency over monkeypox and urged governments to step up monitoring of the disease.
In Geneva this morning, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris made it clear that the gesture would not be effective. According to him, the disease got its name because it was first described in monkeys in a zoo in Denmark in the 1950s. “But the virus is present in a few animals,” she said.
According to WHO, the current epidemic in the world is due to “transmission by close contact between people”. The business insists it must be this contamination pattern of concern.
“The transmission we see now is human-to-human transmission,” he said. “Some animals have the virus. But that’s not what we’re seeing right now. The risk comes from another human, and that’s the way to stop it.” [a propagação da doença] Recognizing the symptoms, getting help, and making sure there is no contamination,” Harris explains. “People should not attack animals,” he added.
Experts within WHO are currently drafting a protocol to rename the epidemic to avoid identifying certain animals as the cause of the disease.
“We’ll hear back in the next few days,” the spokesperson said. Something similar was done in the past when terms like “swine flu” arose.
He also warned of the risk of detecting the disease with a part of the population. “Stigmatizing a group in society will only increase the epidemic,” he said.
According to him, if a person fears being excluded because he is sick, he will not report that he is sick and will not seek protection. The result will be an increase in infections.
“Don’t stigmatize animals or people,” Harris said. According to the Ministry of Health, there were 2,004 cases of the disease in Brazil until the end of last week, while another 1,962 suspected cases are being investigated. 75% of cases were in the state of São Paulo.
source: Noticias
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