In contrast to Sars-CoV-2, the monkeypox virus is not easily transmitted from person to person.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Monkeypox reaches Germany: On Thursday, the Bundeswehr Institute for Microbiology in Munich unequivocally detected the monkeypox virus in a patient with characteristic skin changes. This was announced by the Bundeswehr medical service on Friday.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said about the man’s infection in Bavaria: “It was only a matter of time before monkeypox was also detected in Germany.” He spoke of an isolated case. “I’m not assuming a high number of unreported cases in Germany,” said the SPD politician. The case could easily be narrowed down.
Several outbreaks of monkeypox have recently become known in Europe, including in Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and Belgium. The most important questions and answers.
Monkeypox in Germany: what symptoms occur
Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, and skin rashes, which usually start on the face and spread to the rest of the body. Fluid-filled blisters form, which fester and can burst, and finally a scab that later falls off and can still contain viable virus. The disease is usually mild.
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According to the Bundeswehr Institute for Microbiology, the incubation period for monkeypox is usually six to 13 days, but can also be between five and 21 days. The disease typically resolves on its own, with symptoms usually resolving within two to three weeks.
Monkeypox infections also in Australia and Canada
How monkeypox is transmitted
According to the Bundeswehr Institute for Microbiology, monkeypox can be transmitted in the early stages via droplets containing the pathogen in the exhaled air or later through direct contact with the skin changes. The virus can survive for a long time in pustule and scab material and can thus also be transmitted via contaminated materials and surfaces such as clothing, bedding and other personal items.
In contrast to Sars-CoV-2, the monkeypox virus is not easily transmitted from person to person. An infection usually requires very close contact with infected people, animals or contaminated objects.
While monkeypox would present a very typical clinical picture, mild cases with very few skin lesions could go undetected and thus pose a risk for further human-to-human transmission.
How experts assess monkeypox
The infectiologist at the Charité in Berlin, Leif Erik Sander, expects “a further significant increase in cases” given the long incubation period, as he wrote on Twitter. “Nevertheless, this remains a topic for the specialists in particular.” Monkeypox is not so contagious that there will be a widespread epidemic or pandemic like Covid-19.
However, the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) points out that this is the first time the virus has been transmitted from person to person in Europe. “It is now the first time that chains of infection have been reported from Europe without an epidemiological link to West or Central Africa,” the center writes in a statement.
For the doctor Norbert Brockmeyer, people who have sexual contact with many different people are particularly at risk. In principle, however, the virus can also be transmitted through close physical contact, so Brockmeyer also believes that caution is advisable in the general population. “But there must be no hysteria. The monkeypox will be easy to control.”
Which monkeypox cases are known so far
Two first cases of the rare virus infection in Belgium became known on Friday. They were identified by virologists in different cities. However, Flemish broadcaster VRTNWS reported that both patients attended the same party.
According to the authorities, the first infected person to be diagnosed with the disease in Antwerp is not seriously ill and is in isolation with his partner. The second case is a man from the Flemish Brabant region, as the virologist Marc Van Ranst from Leuven announced on Twitter. He shouldn’t be seriously ill either. In Spain, the number of infections rose by 14 to a total of 21 cases, according to the authorities in Madrid.
The first cases have also been reported in Australia and Canada. Australia on Friday reported a first case of monkeypox in a male traveler who had recently returned from the UK.
Another suspected case, in a man who also recently traveled to Europe, is still under investigation. In Canada, two cases have been reported in the province of Quebec, the first confirmed infections in the country. The authorities are also investigating 17 suspected cases.
With agency material
More: Read the latest developments in the corona pandemic in the news blog
This article first appeared on May 20, 2022 at 2:24 p.m.