Photo: Foundation for the Promotion of International Projects
ABUJA, May 21 (RHC) Oyewale Tomori, a virologist who heads the Nigerian Academy of Sciences, expressed confusion on Saturday at what he believed to be an unusual spread of the disease known as monkeypox in Africa.
“That surprises me. Every day I wake up and see new countries getting infected,” the expert, who is a member of several World Health Organization (WHO) advisory boards, told local media.
He added that this is not the usual way of spreading in West Africa, so something new could be happening in the west, he warned.
Until last week, cases of the disease were only seen in people with links to Central and West Africa, but recently the UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United States, Sweden and Canada have reported infections, mostly in young men who have never done it They have traveled to the southern mainland, he remarked.
The day before, the WHO warned of a surge in cases in the coming months after confirming the presence of monkeypox patients in Germany, Belgium and France.
dr Hans Henri Kluge, Director of the International Organization for Europe, expressed concern about a likely increase in patients with this type of smallpox as the summer season begins, due to mass gatherings, festivals and parties typical of the time of year. (source: Latin Press).