The WHO Shared Tips For Avoiding Monkeypox & More Cases Are 'Likely To Be Reported'

The World Health Organization is "working to understand" the monkeypox outbreak which has spread to several countries this month. While it is still unsure where the infections are coming from, it does have some advice on how to slow the spread.

WHO officials shared an update on the virus on Friday after monkeypox cases were detected in several European and North American countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Canada.

The WHO reported 80 confirmed cases and 50 others under investigation, with "more likely to be reported." It also said that monkeypox has been reported in "11 countries that don’t normally have the disease."

Symptoms can include fever, headaches, muscle aches, low energy, swollen lymph nodes and a rash with blisters on the face, hands, feet, eyes, mouth and genitals. Most infections last two-to-four weeks and the fatality rate is around 3-6%, the WHO says.

Monkeypox is a less severe viral cousin to smallpox and is typically transmitted to humans from animals or through close contact with an infected person, according to the WHO.

The WHO says smallpox vaccines have historically been effective at fighting off monkeypox.

You can also protect yourself from it by avoiding skin-to-skin or face-to-face contact with someone who has it, the WHO says. Masking, hand-washing and keeping surfaces clean can also cut down on the risk of it spreading.

Although monkeypox typically spreads from animals to humans, the WHO still hasn't figured out a source for the current outbreak.

The first cases cropped up in the U.K. in early May. Officials there said the first case was linked to a traveller arriving from Nigeria in Africa, where monkeypox outbreaks are more common.

It has spread to several other countries in recent weeks, and the U.K. is now investigating whether it might be spreading through sexual contact.

"This is not the kind of spread we've seen in West Africa, so there may be something new happening in the West," Oyewale Tomori, a virologist and WHO adviser, told the Associated Press on Friday.

"I'm stunned by this. Every day I wake up and there are more countries infected."

Christian Happi, director of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, also said it's unprecedented.

"We’ve never seen anything like what’s happening in Europe," he said.

"We haven’t seen anything to say that the transmission patterns of monkeypox have been changing in Africa. So if something different is happening in Europe, then Europe needs to investigate that."

Despite the growing number of cases in multiple countries, experts aren't sounding the alarm at this point.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.