How Long Is The Quarantine For Monkeypox? UK, Belgium Issue Isolation Guidelines
With monkeypox cases detected in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia, countries have issued quarantine guidelines for those who are infected and those who have come in contact with infected people.
Belgium became the first country to issue a mandatory 21-day quarantine for anyone infected with monkeypox after its third case was confirmed on Friday. On Monday, the country confirmed a fourth case of the viral infection.
“Infected persons will have to go into contact isolation until the injuries have healed (they will receive concrete instructions about this from the treating doctor),” read the government announcement, which was translated from Dutch.
Like Belgium, the U.K. also issued guidelines for those at high risk of contracting monkeypox and who have come into contact with an infected person, recommending that they self-isolate for 21 days.
The U.K. has reported at least 20 cases of monkeypox, according to the country’s Health Security Agency.
Symptoms of monkeypox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include fever, headache, muscle aches, backaches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion.
Monkeypox is typically contracted from an animal, human, or material that has been contaminated with the virus through broken skin, the respiratory tract, or mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth), the CDC said.
However, the World Health Organization said in a statement: “Based on currently available information, cases have mainly but not exclusively been identified amongst men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking care in primary care and sexual health clinics.”
Cases of monkeypox are traditionally mild and resolve in two-to-four weeks, but there is no vaccine for the treatment of the disease. The smallpox vaccine is 85% effective against monkeypox infection.
Global infection of monkeypox sits at around 100 cases in 12 countries.
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