The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has said that the monkeypox outbreaks in Africa are not concentrated among gay men.
WHO said on Thursday that unlike in other parts of the world, the disease is unrelated to sex in the continent.
WHO declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency — the highest alarm it can sound on Saturday. It said that the disease at the time had affected nearly 16,000 people in 72 countries.
Epidemiologist Dr. Otim Patrick Ramadan, while answering questions on monkeypox at a media briefing organized by the WHO’s regional office in Africa, said “currently 60% of the cases that we have – the 350 – 60% are men, 40% are women.”
Dr. Ramadan further revealed that over 80% of cases in Africa were in countries where transmission had happened before, and that typically people were initially exposed to the virus through contact with animals carrying it, before passing it to household members.
He added that women typically took care of sick people at home, which was one of the factors in the spread among women.
On the part of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), its acting director, Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, told a separate media briefing there was no evidence that transmission among gay men was a specific factor in African outbreaks.
“We’ve been collecting data on monkeypox since 1970 and that particular indicator, men having sex with men, has never come up as a significant issue here in Africa,” he said.
Monkeypox, which was eradicated some 40 years ago, has suddenly appeared in recent weeks in countries where it is normally only very rare: Europe and North America.