Health, monkey mugs | Monkey Cup eruption is just ‘tip of the iceberg’, WHO warns

Posted On: July 4, 2022

The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned that the nearly 200 cases of monkeypox that have been discovered in recent weeks are just the start.

The monkey cup infection has received a lot of attention due to the fact that the cases of infection have been discovered in countries where the virus does not normally circulate.

– We do not know if we have only seen the tip of the iceberg, and that there are many more cases of infection which have not been detected, specifies Sylvie Briand according to The Guardian.

Briand is responsible for epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the WHO. She says we are still in the start-up phase when it comes to monkey cups.

– We know that there will be more cases of infection in the next few days, she said.

Monkey cups spread: Claimed to come from ‘rave parties’ in Spain and Belgium

Ask people not to worry

Briand says there’s still no reason to panic.

– It’s not a disease the general public should worry about. It’s not a disease like the coronavirus and other diseases that spread quickly, she said.

In recent weeks, the virus has been detected in several European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland. Infections have also been detected recently in the United States, Canada, Australia and Argentina. In total, the disease has been registered in more than 20 countries.

Sweden classifies monkeypox as a dangerous general disease

The monkey cup infection was visiting Oslo

A foreign person who traveled to Oslo in May was later diagnosed with the infection. The Municipality of Oslo and FHI have started detection of infections, but no cases of infection have been detected in this country.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) in Norway believes the disease does not have the potential to become a pandemic and stresses that the virus is not easily transmitted. Monkey cuts can be spread through skin contact with blisters or sores, drips and sharing, for example, bed linen or towels.

For the time being, the Norwegian authorities will not classify the monkey cups as dangerous for the public.

Norway has access to monkey cut vaccine

According to the Ministry of Health, Norway will receive a share of the monkey cup vaccines that the EU is already in the process of obtaining. The vaccine is already approved for use against smallpox, but not yet for monkeypox. Swedish vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström says NRK that the EU will provide vaccines and medicines from June.

– We ensure this through our membership in EU4Health, of which Norway is a full member, State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng of the Ministry of Health and Care Services tells NTB.