Europe did not have time to get out of the coronavirus pandemic, as a new disaster loomed over tourism. This time it is about the so-called monkeypox imported from Africa to the European continent. And it began to be transmitted not just from monkeys to humans, but also from person to person. Cases have already been reported in the UK, France, Spain, Sweden, France and Belgium. Optimists still hope that the disease will not become widespread, pessimists recall February-March 2020, when Covid-19 was not seriously disbanded, but COVID quickly “passed” from the local “Chinese” disease to the stage of a global pandemic and widespread lockdowns killing tourism.
Smallpox, according to experts, is previously a relatively rare, at least in Europe, infectious disease with symptoms such as general intoxication, fever and rash. The incubation period is from 5 to 21 days. Mortality of the disease in documented cases ranges from 10%, and, in contrast to covid, children suffer more often.
According to experts, unlike COVID, the disease is not new – the first cases of human infection date back to the early 70’s. Outside the “civilized world”, namely in equatorial and subequatorial Africa, cases are common. In the 1990s, there was even a major outbreak of the disease in the Congo. She was also “brought” to the United States – cases were recorded in 2003, the disease was brought with domesticated meadow dogs, which, in turn, received the virus from rodents imported from Africa.
The fear of tourists is that the virus “arrived” in Europe and began to spread. The smallpox virus was first found in a UK resident who had returned from the Congo. At present, there are already 9 cases in the country, with patients in different areas, from London to the south-east.
Cases of the disease on the continent have also been reported, with an increase in such reports in recent days. Spain reported seven cases and 22 suspected cases, while Portugal reported 20. The first cases of monkeypox were confirmed in Sweden, Italy, Australia, Canada and the United States.
The latest cases are again European – the first case of human infection with monkeypox was recorded in France, in the Paris / Ile-de-France region, two more – in Belgium, two confirmed cases. Tourists are afraid that there will be a “new Covid”.