Over the past few days, news started coming in about monkeypox and the increase in the number of cases registered with it globally. Are we on the verge of the beginning of another pandemic? Or is it nothing more than random, transient cases that do not cause concern? Details and the latest virus updates in the following news:

In recent days, many cases of the rare monkeypox virus have been recorded around the world, and in light of the rapid increase in the number of recorded cases, the virus has begun to make headlines, and so will the monkeypox virus follow the path taken by the emerging Coronavirus?

The number of cases registered globally so far

So far it has been registered:

More than 80-100 cases are documented in more than 12 countries.
50 suspected cases.
It is worth noting that only one of the recorded cases was a person who had recently returned to Britain from Nigeria, a country where the monkeypox virus had previously appeared repeatedly in the past years, and the rest of the cases were for people who had never traveled to any of the countries where the virus appeared during past years

Countries affected by the virus

Here is a list of countries with documented cases of the virus so far:

• Britain: 20 confirmed cases.
• Spain: 30 confirmed cases.
• Portugal: 14 confirmed cases.
• Canada: 2 confirmed cases.
• Other countries, such as Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States of America, and Australia.

Symptoms of monkeypox virus

Among the symptoms of the virus are the following:

• Fever.
• Muscle aches.
• a headache.
• Blisters and rashes.
• swollen lymph nodes.

The patient can transmit the virus to others as soon as the blisters begin to appear, but when these blisters dry and fall off, revealing the healthy skin underneath, the virus is not contagious.

Can the virus spread easily?

Contrary to the Coronavirus, this virus is slow to spread, and the chances of transmission from one person to another are small, and according to the World Health Organization, the increasing cases of infection around the world are atypical, especially since it was recorded in countries where no infection with the virus has previously been recorded since the beginning of the virus in the fifties of the last century.

But it is believed that this unprecedented spread can be explained by one of the following hypotheses, which are still being researched:

The first hypothesis: is that the spreading strain is a new strain, but there is no evidence to support this hypothesis yet.

The second hypothesis: Global immunity to this type of virus decreases, especially since the smallpox vaccine is no longer commonly used.

Treatments and Vaccines

There is no vaccine for the monkeypox virus, but some types of vaccines available for viruses of the same family as this virus may be effective in warding off the virus; Most notably, the smallpox vaccine, which may make its recipient 85% less susceptible to monkeypox virus.

Some antiviral drugs have been found to be effective in cases of smallpox, and in this sense, they may also be effective in cases of monkeypox, such as:

• Tecovirimat.
• Cidofovir medication.

Some countries have already begun to take preventive measures if the virus begins to spread, such as Britain and Spain, where health authorities have begun to purchase large quantities of smallpox vaccine to start vaccinating their citizens early.

Is the monkeypox virus worrying?

Although it may cause death by 10%, the scientific data – on the positive side – indicates the following:

• The health complications associated with the virus are minor, and the patient often
• recovers within weeks without the need for treatment.
• No deaths have been recorded so far, and the cases recorded globally are considered stable.
• The symptoms accompanying the virus are clear, which makes it easy to monitor and isolate those infected with it early, unlike Corona.
• The possibility of the disease spreading and turning into an epidemic or pandemic is small.