First infection with monkeypox virus reported in Belgium

The monkeypox virus normally only occurs in Central and West Africa, but now infections have also been reported in Europe. In the case of Belgium, infections were detected in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Italy.

Not in the Netherlands

According to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), no case has yet been identified in the Netherlands. “But it is striking that it now seems that the virus seems to be transmitted more easily from person to person,” a spokesperson previously told RTL Nieuws.

In general, infection occurs after very close contact, via respiratory drops. But the UK health service UKHSA says a significant proportion of the infections were transmitted through sexual contact. In most cases, it involved sex between men.

People can suffer from fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue after being infected.

Contagiousness

What virologists are currently trying to figure out is contagiousness. Because some cases are unrelated. Only one infection in Britain, reported on May 6, could be traced to a visit to Nigeria.

The virus has also appeared in the United States. It is about a man who has been to Canada.

According to virologist Marion Koopmans, despite the advance, there is no reason to panic. “In general, the spread is not very fast, so we should not cause a whole hype,” she previously told RTL Nieuws. British professor Jimmy Whitworth, in turn, told Reuters news agency that there will be no pandemic like the corona virus.

Monkeypox virus sometimes deadly

Monkeypox starts just like the flu: you can suffer from fever, headache, nausea. But a few days later, patients are confronted with round blisters with pus, which dry out a few days later and finally disappear. Monkeypox and smallpox belong to the smallpox virus family, which is different from the well-known chickenpox that occurs in children.

Monkeypox virus was first identified in monkeys in 1958, but today rodents are considered the main animal host. The vast majority of people recover from the illness within a few weeks. In a few cases hospitalization is necessary, and sometimes the disease can be fatal.