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• WHO said cases appear to have been spread among men who have sex with other men
• About 200 confirmed and suspected cases have been reported across a dozen countries
Belgium has become the first nation to enforce a mandatory three-week quarantine for monkeypox patients amid the growing number of cases across the globe.
Health officials in Belgium on Friday introduced the measures after the country reported its third case of the virus.
As of Monday, the country has recorded four cases of monkeypox.
Belgium’s measures apply only to patients with a confirmed infection.
“If a person develops a suspicious skin rash, the advice at this point is to contact an emergency department for sampling as soon as possible, who may refer the person to a hospital with more expertise, among others. As long as monkeypox has not been ruled out or until the infection has cleared, close contact with others should be avoided, and no sexual contact is recommended,” the Belgium health authority said.
The UK has asked people, who have a high risk of catching the disease — including household contacts or medical professionals, to self-isolate for 21 days.
Dr Rosamund Lewis, the smallpox researcher at the World Health Organization, on Monday, in a Q&A live stream on the organization’s Twitter handle, said monkeypox, which is typically endemic to Africa, is primarily spreading through sex among men, with about 200 confirmed and suspected cases across at least a dozen countries.
“Many diseases can be spread through sexual contact. You could get a cough or a cold through sexual contact, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a sexually transmitted disease,” Andy Seale, who advises WHO on HIV, hepatitis and other sexually transmitted infections, said in the video.
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