Brussels: Belgium has become the first nation to create a 21-day quarantine mandatory for monkeypox infected people after four cases were noticed in the previous week.
The health authorities of Belgium took the decision related to the quarantine on Friday, as per the sources.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), monkeypox is a rare disease that is caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. the CDC says the condition resembles smallpox except with milder symptoms.
It is primarily spread when a person comes into contact with the virus from an animal, human, or material contaminated with the virus.
The CDC said that monkeypox’s incubation period is usually 7−14 days but can range from 5−21 days.
Symptom onset begins with fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion.
The main difference between the symptoms of smallpox and monkeypox is that, monkeypox causes lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy), while smallpox does not.
In addition, within three days of fever onset, an infected person develops a rash, often beginning on the face, before spreading to other parts of the body. Symptoms typically last two to four weeks.
In Africa, the virus has been shown to cause death in as many as 1 in 10 individuals who contract the disease, the CDC said.
Since May 13, 2022, the cases of the monkeypox have been noticed by the World Health Organisation from 12 states that are not endemic for the monkeypox virus, all over the three regions of WHO.
As the cases of the monkeypox are spreading rapidly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is expecting more cases in the coming days.
Apart from this, monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys.
The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox.
Along with this, the monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
The regional director of the World Health Organisation, Hans Kluge, mentioned in the statement, “As we enter the summer season… with mass gatherings, festivals and parties, I am concerned that transmission could accelerate.”
Currently, the WHO has received reports of 92 laboratory-confirmed monkeypox cases as well as 28 suspected cases from 12 countries where the disease is not endemic.
