The Israeli Health Ministry continues to monitor the spread of the mpox virus around the world and in the Jewish state, the ministry said on Monday.
The announcement came after last week’s World Health Organization report of an upsurge in the number of cases of mpox—known until 2022 as monkeypox—diagnosed with Clade I (an endemic strain of the virus) throughout Central Africa, the announcement from Jerusalem stated.
“Several outbreaks of different clades of mpox have occurred in different countries, with different modes of transmission and different levels of risk,” the WHO stated on Aug. 14, declaring a public health emergency.
Monkeypox, which was renamed due to concerns that the original name of the decades-old animal disease could be construed as racist, is a viral disease that can spread between people and from infected animals.
The new, more deadly variants appear to spread more easily through routine contact, particularly among children and pregnant women.
In 2024 alone, some 8,800 children have contracted the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—more than half of the country’s total reported cases—according to the most recent figures. A total of 548 people have died and an estimated 463 of those were children, data said.
Israeli authorities have said there is no link to Africa in the few cases recorded in the Jewish state and they have not changed their policies. The Health Ministry recommends that those at risk of contracting the virus, including men who have sex with men, complete two vaccine doses.
Monkeypox symptoms can include fever, skin rash, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, muscle pain, chills and exhaustion. In most cases, the symptoms last for two to four weeks.
