Carriers of viral monkeypox remain contagious for three weeks

All this time, viral particles remained viable both in the air and on surfaces.

Doctors from Singapore and Australia have found that the skin and lungs of carriers of viral monkeypox actively produce new viral particles and spread them throughout the environment for three weeks. The results of the scientists' observations are published in the electronic library medRxiv.

"For the first time, we have comprehensively studied how the body of monkeypox carriers interacts with air, dust, water and various surfaces in the room where the patient is hospitalized. Our measurements showed that viable particles of the virus were present in all environments for three weeks of observation," - researchers write.

Monkeypox virus (MPXV), which spread in April and May in a number of Western European countries, has also been detected on other continents. In addition to the UK, cases of infection have recently been reported in most countries of Western Europe, as well as in the USA, Canada and in the states of South and Southeast Asia. According to WHO statistics, at the current time, the total number of cases of infection has exceeded 61 thousand, 23 people have died from the disease.

A group of Australian and Singaporean doctors led by Eun Lijing, associate professor at the Institute of Environmental Health in Singapore, was interested in how long MPXV carriers remain infectious and produce viable virus particles that threaten the health of doctors and other clinic patients.