The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has raised monkeypox alert to level 2 following an uptick in cases and recommends travelers wear masks, according to the New York Post.
The CDC made the announcement Monday as the virus has spread across the globe since March after the first cases were reported in Africa, the Post reported.
“Cases of monkeypox have been reported in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia,” the CDC wrote in a statement. “Some cases were reported among men who have sex with men. Some cases were also reported in people who live in the same household as an infected person.”
There have been more than 1,000 monkeypox cases reported to the World Health Organization since May, and 29 countries have reported cases in the current outbreak but none have reported deaths, according to Reuters.
The CDC says that the “symptoms of monkeypox are similar to but milder than the symptoms of smallpox. Monkeypox begins with fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion. The main difference between symptoms of smallpox and monkeypox is that monkeypox causes lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy) while smallpox does not. The incubation period (time from infection to symptoms) for monkeypox is usually 7−14 days but can range from 5−21 days.”
The CDC says that between one to three days after a fever, “the patient develops a rash, often beginning on the face then spreading to other parts of the body.”
Lesions then form and eventually fall off, the CDC says.
The illness typically lasts for 2−4 weeks.
Monkeypox can spread when a person comes into contact with the virus from an infected animal, infected person, or materials contaminated with the virus, according to CDC.
The illness spreads between people primarily through direct contact with infectious sores, scabs, or body fluids, according to CDC.