Monkeypox: A Global Health Emergency | eMedEvents
On July 23, 2022, the World Health Organization officially declared that the monkeypox outbreak, which has now affected over 17,000 people across 74 countries is now a global health emergency. Since early May, there has been a rapid, unprecedented increase in monkeypox cases outside of the Central and West African nations where the virus has long been endemic. Monkeypox s a viral infection in the same family as smallpox: it was first detected in humans in the 1970s. However, it is much less dangerous than smallpox, which had been eradicated in 1980. Monkeypox typically spreads via physical contact with fluid from the virus's lesions, including direct and indirect contact; this means that individuals can be infected by handling a sick person's linens or clothes, especially if they have been visibly soiled by the lesions. Respiratory droplets are also believed to be a mode of transmission for monkeypox. While the majority of reported infections thus far have been gay or bisexua