Chordopoxvirinae

Greek health authorities have identified the first case of sheep pox on one animal following an on-site livestock inspection of a farm in western Lesvos last week, the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food said on Thursday.

As the lone laboratory manufacturing a licensed vaccine against monkeypox, Danish company Bavarian Nordic has seen its order book fill up as the usually rare disease spreads around the world.

Turkey has no monkeypox virus cases as the latest tests on four suspected patients have emerged negative, the country's health minister has said.

"Tests have been made on four patients suspected to be infected with monkeypox in Istanbul. All are negative," Fahrettin Koca tweeted late on June 4.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on June 3 it was aware of more than 700 global cases of monkeypox, including 21 in the United States, with investigations now suggesting it is spreading inside the country.

Over past years, we have seen an increase in the number of cases in countries where monkeypox is endemic and also exists in wildlife

The United States is preparing to give monkeypox vaccines to close contacts of people infected and to deploy treatments, with five cases now either confirmed or probable and the number likely to rise, officials said Monday.

"Words that can express so much in a certain period are rare," Merriam-Webster said in a statement.

Most people hoped that over time - and given scientific progress, vaccines, and medicines that are being developed - the pandemic would be checked and become an endemic seasonal disease like the flu.

Yet, a series of factors and conditions, in Greece and around the world, dashed those hopes.

The measures concern the unvaccinated

Fully vaccinated people have a very low risk of getting sick and transmitting the virus, and usually have mild or no symptoms