African monkeypox cases not concentrated among gay men, experts say

JOHANNESBURG — Monkeypox outbreaks in Africa are not concentrated among gay men, unlike in other parts of the world, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa CDC said on Thursday.

Outbreaks of the viral disease have been reported from 78 countries, mostly in Europe, and 98% of cases outside the countries in Africa where it is endemic have been reported in men who have sex with men, the WHO says.

But in Africa, where repeated outbreaks have been documented since the 1970s, the pattern of transmission is different, the experts said.

“Currently 60% of the cases that we have – the 350 – 60% are men, 40% are women,” said epidemiologist Dr. Otim Patrick Ra…

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