Monkeypox has now been reported in the US, according to the New York Times. It adds that the case was found in Massachusetts.
Nine monkeypox cases have already been reported in the UK and that Spain and Portugal have about 23 and 20 suspected cases each, the Times says. Additionally, about 15 case are under investigation in Montreal.
Monkeypox causes fever and a rash, Reuters says, noting that there are two main strains: the Congo strain and the West African strain. The Congo strain is associated with a mortality rate of about 10 percent and the West African strain with a 1 percent mortality rate, and it says the current cases have been linked to the West African strain. It adds that monkeypox is typically transmitted through close contact, but that the current cases are puzzling experts as a number of the affected people in the UK have no connection to one another.
"The fact that it's in the UK in multiple unrelated clusters, plus Spain, plus Portugal, is a surprise," Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health tells the Times.
The World Health Organization says that genomic sequencing of the viral samples is underway to establish how the cases may be linked, Reuters notes.