The warning didn't say anything about the gay community. At a booth during the Utah Pride Festival in Salt Lake City this month, Health Department staff distributed business-card-sized monkeypox warnings urging people to avoid close or sexual contact with anyone experiencing a rash or flu-like symptoms. In Salt Lake County, health officials consulted with advocacy groups and decided to get the message out to gay and bisexual men without making the message about them. It's something never recognized before in outbreaks of the virus. cases in which the sexual behavior of the patient is known, all but one involve men who have sex with men, mirroring trends in Europe. As the United States confronts its largest-ever monkeypox outbreak, with nearly 50 probable cases, public health authorities navigate a delicate but familiar balancing act. It's not just Utah officials who are struggling to find the right message. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. But they feared unintended consequences: heterosexuals assuming they're not susceptible, closeted men in a heavily Mormon community avoiding care so they're not seen as gay, and critics exploiting the infections to sow bigotry. They wanted to warn men who have sex with men that they were at higher risk for exposure to the virus. Officials in the Utah county faced a dilemma. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.Monkeypox had arrived in Salt Lake County, with two men testing positive after returning from Europe, the epicenter of a global outbreak concentrated in gay and bisexual men. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.Īs we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content.
Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)īusiness Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Monkeypox is considered endemic in Central and West Africa. Meanwhile, countries in Africa have reported more than 1,500 suspected cases including 72 deaths from eight countries. health agency also said while close contact can spread monkeypox, it is not clear what role sexual bodily fluids, including semen and vaginal fluids, play in the transmission. WHO said many people in the outbreak have atypical features of the disease which could make it more difficult for doctors to diagnose. After the UK, the biggest numbers of cases have been reported in Spain, Germany and Canada. No deaths have been reported outside of Africa. Last week, WHO said 1,285 cases of monkeypox had been reported from 28 countries where monkeypox was not known to be endemic. In May, a leading adviser to the World Health Organization said the monkeypox outbreak in Europe and beyond was likely spread by sex at two recent raves in Spain and Belgium. data, 99% of the cases so far have been in men and most are in London. Scientists warn that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is susceptible to catching monkeypox if they are in close, physical contact with an infected person or their clothing or bed sheets.Īccording to U.K. The UK's Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or bisexual men.
British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease.