Germany to release monkeypox guidance, mulls vaccine options – minister
- Health minister Karl Lauterbach said men who have sex with unknown partners were currently a risk group and should be warned about the infectious disease ‘without any stigmatisation’
- Many nations where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks in recent days, mostly in Europe
Germany’s health minister on Monday expressed concern about monkeypox outbreaks and said the country was due to release quarantine guidelines on Tuesday after reporting three cases.
Nearly 20 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with more than 100 confirmed or suspected infections, mostly in Europe.
“In the next few hours we will work out recommendations together with the Robert Koch Institute regarding isolation recommendations and quarantine recommendations,” German health minister Karl Lauterbach told journalists on the sidelines of the World Health Organization’s annual assembly in Geneva. “We’ll be able to present them tomorrow,” he said.
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What is monkeypox and should we be worried that it’s spreading?
Many, but not all, of the people who have been diagnosed in the current monkeypox outbreak are men who have sex with men.
Lauterbach said that men who have sex with unknown partners were currently a risk group and should be warned about monkeypox “without any stigmatisation”.
A senior World Health Organization official said earlier that the agency did not have evidence the virus has mutated.