The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that monkeypox can spread through the air but only through’sustained’ face-to-face contact with an infected person.
According to the Daily Mail, CDC chief Rochelle Walensky stated in a briefing on Friday that monkeypox was spread through physical contact with symptomatic patients as well as touching their clothing and bedding.
However, in an attempt to clarify whether face masks are required to avoid catching the rash-causing virus, the epidemiologist explained that the virus would not ‘linger in the air’ like Covid.
“The disease is not spread through casual conversations, passing others in a grocery store, or touching things like door knobs,” she said.
“All of the cases we have seen to date in this outbreak have been related to direct contact.”
During the conference, health officials also urged Americans who have a sexually transmitted infection, such as syphilis, gonorrhea, or chlamydia, to get tested for monkeypox.
They warned that many patients were developing rashes and sores on their genitals and anus that resembled STIs.
Several cases of monkeypox and a sexually transmitted disease co-infection have also been reported.
Walensky emphasized that the virus was only spread through the air by large droplets expelled by infected people that quickly fell to the ground.
Source:OCN