The number of new monkeypox cases was observed to have risen rapidly in the United States and more than 50 other countries, Florida's case count alone is surgingto 73 as of 7 July, the third most of any state, after California and New York, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 700 confirmed U.S. cases, the CDC said.
Most Americans diagnosed with monkeypox are middle-aged, with more than 70 petrcent of cases occurring in people between the ages of 35 and 54, according to the Health Department. They usually acquired the disease in the country, as opposed to coming here from elsewhere with the virus, according to the department’s disease repository.
However, the most glaring data showed that the "main population we’ve seen so far has been in men having sex with men," said Dr. Aileen Marty, a professor of infectious diseases in the Department of Medicine at FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. "Not because it’s a sexually transmitted disease, but rather because they’ve been having the kinds of interactions with each other in large party settings. That’s basically a super spreader."
Worldwide, epidemiologists are seeing the same trends. Of the more than 6,000 monkeypox cases that have been reported in 58 countries as of 6 July, 99 percent of the cases have been in men — with the majority in men who have sex with men, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Europe chief said, the Associated Press reported.
Symptoms include a rash, fever, muscle pain, vomiting and chills. No deaths have been reported.
The monkeypox virus spreads from person to person via direct contact with infected areas, respiratory droplets and genital secretions, and even touching items used by infected individuals. People can also contract the virus by being bitten or scratched by an infected animal, particularly rodents.