A man receives a dose of the Monkeypox vaccine at the Edison municipal vaccination centre in Paris on July 27, 2022. - French government announced on July 25, 2022 to mobilize "additional arms" to vaccinate against monkeypox, at a time when elected o …
GENEVA (AP) - The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday advised men at risk of catching monkeypox to consider reducing their sexual partners "for the moment" following the U.N. health agency declaring the escalating outbreaks in multiple countries to be a global emergency.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 98% of the monkeypox cases detected since the outbreaks emerged in May have been among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. He called for those at risk to take steps to protect themselves.
"That means making safe choices for yourself and others, for men who have sex with men," Tedros said. "This includes, for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners."
RELATED: World Health Organization declares monkeypox a global emergency
Infectious individuals should isolate and avoid gatherings involving close, physical contact, while people should get contact details for any new sexual partners in case they need to follow up later, the WHO chief said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not suggested that men who have sex with men reduce their sexual partners, only that they avoid skin-to-skin contact with people who have a rash that could be monkeypox.
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What is monkeypox and what are the symptoms?
Massachusetts reported a case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada on May 18, 2022. FOX Medical Team correspondent Dr. Mike Cirigliano discusses the rare virus.
WHO officials emphasized that monkeypox can infect anyone in close contact with a patient or their contaminated clothing or bedsheets. The U.N. health agency has warned that the disease could be more severe in vulnerable populations like children or pregnant women.
To date, more than 19,000 cases have been reported in more than 75 countries; deaths have only been reported in Africa.
"We know very clearly that one of the main modes of exposure for this particular illness is through direct contact, close contact, skin to skin contact, possibly even face to face contact, exposure to droplets or virus that may be in the mouth," Dr. Rosamund Lewis, WHO’s technical lead for monkeypox, said.
RELATED: Monkeypox outbreak needs 'hard and fast' response
Andy Seale, a WHO adviser on HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, said experts have determined the current monkeypox outbreak is "clearly transmitted during sex," but he said they have not yet concluded whether it’s a sexually transmitted infection.
Dr. Hugh Adler, who treats monkeypox patients in the U.K., said monkeypox was being transmitted during sex and that sexual networks and anonymous sex with untraceable partners were facilitating its spread.
"It’s just as likely that monkeypox was always capable of transmitting and presenting like this, but it hadn’t been formally reported or so widespread before," he said.
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Monkeypox cases continue to climb, where's the vaccine?
Dallas County says it received another shipment of monkeypox vaccine, but it's only 100 doses. Dallas County ran out of the monkeypox vaccine as cases climb. There are now 52 confirmed cases. The county said it ordered another 300 doses from the federal government last week but does not know when they will arrive. Vaccination appointments are limited to people who have had direct contact with an infected person. Man may have spread monkeypox in Dallas, health officials say The county admits it could be months before the vaccine is widely available to anyone who feels they may need one. The 100 doses of the monkeypox vaccine were delivered to Dallas County Health and Human Services on Friday. The small shipment arrived as the DFW Region leads the state in new infections.
Last week, British authorities issued new guidance advising doctors that people with just one or two lesions might be infectious with monkeypox, potentially complicating efforts to stop transmission.
The European Union’s health commissioner urged the bloc’s 27 member nations Wednesday to step up their efforts to tackle outbreaks in the EU, which she called "the epicenter of detected cases."
In a letter to European health ministers obtained by The Associated Press, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides called for a "reinforced, concerted and coordinated action."
"There is no time for complacency and we need to continue working together to control the outbreak," she wrote.