PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – There have been five monkeypox cases reported in Florida — and all of them were in Broward County — according to the Florida Department of Health’s data Tuesday afternoon.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 64 cases in the U.S. and recently issued a travel health Level 2 notice adding the risk to the general public was low.
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The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced Tuesday an emergency meeting will be held on June 23 after more than 1,600 cases and nearly 1,500 suspected cases were reported in 39 countries.
The infectious viral disease that typically begins with flu-like symptoms and lymph node swelling progresses to a rash and in severe cases to hemorrhagic disease or other conditions requiring hospitalization.
The CDC warns the disease spreads through direct contact with body fluids or sores, or with direct contact with materials that have touched body fluids or sores. It may also spread through respiratory secretions when close, face-to-face contact.
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A group of scientists wants to change the name used to identify the disease. The 28 scientists from 11 countries co-signed a petition suggesting that “hMPXV A.1″ or “MPXV” would be more accurate.
“In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing,” the co-authors of the petition wrote.
The outbreak includes hundreds of cases reported in the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and Germany. There are dozens of cases in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela.
Dr. David Heymann, a leading WHO adviser, reported in May that the unprecedented outbreak was “a random event” that appeared to have started at raves in Spain and Belgium.
Doctors don’t have specific treatments approved, so they are prescribing antiviral medication developed for smallpox such as Tecovirimat and Cidofovir, according to the CDC.