Experts reveal the cause of monkeypox outbreaks in Europe

Weather of Arabia - Health officials have reported more than 100 confirmed cases of monkeypox in several European countries, and it was revealed that most of the monkeypox infections in Spain are linked to a festival attended by 80,000 gay and bisexual people, according to the British newspaper "Daily Mail".

The UK's Health Security Agency said that a significant proportion of recent cases in Britain and Europe were found among gays and bisexuals, and the festival has become the second focus of the outbreak in Spain, the country with the highest number of cases of the disease in the world, where the festival attends. Held between May 5-15, visitors come from all over the European continent.

Health Adviser to the Madrid Regional Government, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, revealed that the procedures for tracking cases carried out by the Directorate of Public Health of the Madrid Regional Government revealed that the majority of monkeypox cases were linked to a "sauna" bath frequented by homosexuals.

"The Department of Public Health will conduct more detailed analyzes to control infection, cut transmission chains and try to reduce transmission of this virus as much as possible," Escudero said.

Monkeypox is a rare and zoonotic viral disease (the virus is transmitted from animals to humans). The disease is transmitted between humans through saliva, nasal secretions, and the resulting rash, as well as the use of tools that have recently been contaminated with the patient's fluids, as well as sexual relations, especially abnormal ones.

The World Health Organization called an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the outbreak of monkeypox, after several countries around the world reported confirmed cases of monkeypox, namely: France, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Canada, Australia, the United States, and the occupied entity in Palestine.

(The number of monkeypox cases, according to the British Daily Mail)

Read also: After the "rare" outbreak of the disease in some countries, what do we know about monkeypox?

Could the monkeypox virus become more transmissible and therefore a global threat?

Dr. Jay Huber of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases answers: "Every time there was an outbreak and an increase in the number of infected people increased, the chances of the monkeypox virus adapting to humans increased."

In other words, the more time the virus spends inside people's bodies, the more evolving it is and the more rapidly it can spread.

So scientists are closely watching the virus and the outbreak that occurs - especially if the virus appears to be changing its transmission routes, as is happening in the current outbreak.

"We didn't think Ebola spread easily between people," Huber adds. "And we were all surprised that health care workers could catch it even though they were wearing protective gear."

Of course, many scientists did not believe that SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, would evolve to become more contagious, but that is exactly what has happened in the past two years.

"With viruses that come from animals, you never know what's going to happen," Huber continues.

Indeed, this new outbreak in Europe may be a sign that the virus has changed - even if only slightly - and may increase its ability to spread among people.