Monkeypox Virus Present In Human Vesicular Fluid. (Photo By BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images) LONDON - A leading adviser to the World Health Organization described 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 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.RELATED: What is monkeypox?
Scientists stunned by cases in US, EuropeThat 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.A German government report to lawmakers, obtained by the AP, said it expected to see further cases and that the risk of catching monkeypox "mainly appears to lie with sexual contacts among men."The four confirmed cases in Germany have been linked to exposure at "party events including on Gran Canaria and in Berlin, where sexual activity took place," it said.RELATED: Year’s 1st case of rare monkeypox reported in the USTo date, WHO has recorded more than 90 cases of monkeypox in a dozen countries including Britain, Spain, Israel, France,.