SCIENTISTS who have monitored numerous outbreaks of monkeypox in Africa said they are baffled by the disease’s recent spread in Europe and North America.

On Friday, France, Germany, Belgium and Australia reported their first infections.

Cases of the smallpox-related disease have previously been seen only among people with links to central and West Africa. But in the past week, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, U.S., Sweden and Canada all reported infections, mostly in young men who hadn’t previously traveled to Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) wrote that monkeypox has been reported from 11 countries that normally don’t have the disease.

“There are about 80 confirmed cases, and 50 pending investigations. More likely to be reported,” it said, noting that member states and other partners were working to understand more about the outbreak.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. Within one to three days (sometimes longer) after the appearance of a fever, the patient develops a rash, often beginning on the face then spreading to other parts of the body. The rash can look like chickenpox or syphilis, and scabs can form which then fall off.

The incubation period of monkeypox is usually from six to 13 days but can range from five to 21 days.

To date, no one has died in the outbreak. Monkeypox typically causes fever, chills, a rash and lesions on the face or genitals. WHO estimates the disease is fatal for up to one in 10 people, but smallpox vaccines are protective, and some antiviral drugs are being developed.

WHO’s Europe director, Dr. Hans Kluge, described the outbreak as “atypical,” saying the appearance of the disease in so many countries across the continent suggested that “transmission has been ongoing for some time.” He said most of the European cases are mild.

On Friday, Britain’s Health Security Agency reported 11 new monkeypox cases, saying that “a notable proportion” of the most recent infections in the U.K. and Europe have been in young men with no history of travel to Africa.

In Germany, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the virus was being sequenced to see if there were any genetic changes that might have made it more infectious.

Shabir Mahdi, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said a detailed investigation of the outbreak in Europe, including determining who the first patients were, was now critical. (SD-Agencies)