World Health Organization described
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 4:35 am
"I think it's bad luck, frankly, that we're seeing this spread in men who have sex with men," Gounder told CBS News. "You have to think about these as large social networks... Sexual activity is a form of close contact. It's not that this is a virus that's specifically spread through sexual contact, but you're going to have close contact if you're having sexual activity or dancing at a rave in very close contact together."
A leading adviser to the the unprecedented outbreak of the rare disease monkeypox in developed countries as "a random event" that might be explained by risky sexual behavior at two recent mass events in Europe.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed WHO's emergencies department, said the leading theory to explain the spread of the disease was sexual transmission among gay and buy phone number list bisexual men at two raves held in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals.
"We know monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission," said Heymann.
That marks a significant departure from the disease's typical pattern of spread in central and western Africa, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates and outbreaks have not spilled across borders.
To date, WHO has recorded more than 90 cases of monkeypox in a dozen countries including Britain, Spain, Israel, France, Switzerland, Australia and the U.S.
In the U.S., so far, the CDC says there is one confirmed case in Boston. There are also suspected cases in Broward County, Florida, and New York City.
A leading adviser to the the unprecedented outbreak of the rare disease monkeypox in developed countries as "a random event" that might be explained by risky sexual behavior at two recent mass events in Europe.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed WHO's emergencies department, said the leading theory to explain the spread of the disease was sexual transmission among gay and buy phone number list bisexual men at two raves held in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals.
"We know monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission," said Heymann.
That marks a significant departure from the disease's typical pattern of spread in central and western Africa, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates and outbreaks have not spilled across borders.
To date, WHO has recorded more than 90 cases of monkeypox in a dozen countries including Britain, Spain, Israel, France, Switzerland, Australia and the U.S.
In the U.S., so far, the CDC says there is one confirmed case in Boston. There are also suspected cases in Broward County, Florida, and New York City.