Israel, Switzerland and Austria report cases
Israel, Switzerland and Austria confirmed cases of on Sunday monkey pox, the BBC reported. This brings the total number of countries affected by the virus to 15.
As of Saturday, the World Health Organization had confirmed 92 confirmed cases of monkeypox in 12 countries, while investigating 28 suspected cases.
Cases have been reported in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
The global health agency had announced that more cases of monkeypox are being reported as it expands surveillance in countries where the disease is not normally found.
monkey pox is a rare infection spread primarily by wild animals such as rodents and primates in parts of west or central Africa, according to the UK’s National Health Service.
The disease usually causes mild illness and can lead to symptoms such as fever, headache, back pain, and a chickenpox-like rash.
The National Health Service says it is uncommon for the infection to be spread through human contact, but it can happen if a person touches monkeypox skin blisters or uses clothing, sheets or towels belonging to someone with the disease.
On Sunday, President of the United States Joe Biden said the cases of monkeypox in Europe and the United States were “something to worry about,” reported The Associated Press.
“It’s worrying in that there would be consequences if it spread,” Biden told reporters in South Korea.
Biden added that the United States is working to find out if a vaccine works against the virus.
Meanwhile the United Nations AIDS Agency on Sunday said some coverage of the monkeypox virus was racist and homophobic.
According to the World Health Organization, cases of monkeypox have been identified primarily, but not exclusively, in men who have had sex with men and who have been treated at sexual health clinics.
“Some public reporting and commentary on monkeypox has used language and imagery, particularly depictions of LGBTI and African people, that reinforce homophobic and racist stereotypes and increase stigma,” UNAIDS said in a press release. “The lessons of the AIDS response show that stigma and blaming specific groups of people can quickly undermine the response to the outbreak.”