Monkeypox is 'particularly nasty' - but unlikely we'll see anything on scale of COVID What do we know about the UK's biggest-ever outbreak of monkeypox? It is unclear if the UK's most up-to-date figures were included in the WHO's report.ĭr David Heymann, who chairs a WHO expert group, described the unprecedented outbreak in Europe as "a random event" that might have been spread by sexual transmission among gay and bisexual men at two raves in Spain and Belgium. Have other countries reported monkeypox cases?Įarlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed a total of 131 confirmed cases of monkeypox had been recorded across 19 countries. This includes sexual intercourse, touching clothing, bedding, towels or other items used by someone with the rash. It also advises that they are offered a smallpox vaccine.Ĭatching the virus from an infected person is very uncommon, but transmission is possible through close physical contact. Open Privacy Optionsįollow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker Gibraltar would not be the same without them.Podcast Due to your consent preferences, you’re not able to view this. Their arrival on Gibraltar may remain a mystery still, these sociable monkeys add a special charm to the limestone headland that guards the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. While the older monkeys use threats and screams to chase away the younger ones, they also have an unusual tooth-chattering behavior that seems to calm them down.
They live in close-knit groups, where stress sometimes leads to confrontation. Both male and female monkeys care for and play with the young ones. Local authorities also provide the monkeys with fruit and vegetables.Īpart from feeding, the monkeys spend 20 percent of their day grooming each other. Although they forage for wild plants, they have become adept at begging-and occasionally stealing-food from visitors. Since seven million tourists visit Gibraltar every year, the mischievous monkeys have an ample food supply.
Although they number only a hundred or so, they have become “the peninsula’s most famous residents,” according to the International Primate Protection League. The Barbary apes inhabit the pine woods that cover the upper part of the Rock. Whatever their origin, they are now the only free-range monkeys found in Europe. Legend has it that the monkeys crossed the narrow straits dividing Europe from Africa by means of a long-lost underground tunnel. Others think that Arabic or British colonizers brought them to the Rock. How do naturalists explain this mystery? Some believe that the monkeys colonized other areas of Europe in the distant past and that those of Gibraltar are the only surviving group. * One isolated group of these monkeys can be found 200 miles to the north, marooned on the Rock of Gibraltar, at the southernmost tip of Europe. In the high Atlas Mountains of North Africa, where snowfall is common during the winter, small groups of Barbary apes roam through forests of cedar and oak. Nevertheless, there are one or two notable exceptions. Few species of monkeys venture into temperate lands. WHEN you think of monkeys, you probably think of the Tropics.
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