There are concerns across the globe over the recent spread of monkeypox – a type of viral infection more common to west and central Africa.

The World Health Organization said Saturday that 92 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported from 12 member states. It said that they expect to identify more cases of monkeypox as it expands surveillance in countries where the disease is not typically found.

Monkeypox can cause symptoms including fever, aches and presents with a distinctive bumpy rash. So far, in the US, the risk to the general public is low. However, the status could change in the coming days. Monkeypox cause symptoms including fever, aches and presents with a distinctive bumpy rash.

Also Read | ‘Everybody should be concerned about’ monkeypox, warns Biden as cases rise

It is related to smallpox, but is usually milder. The West African strain of the virus, which has a fatality rate of around 1%, was identified in a U.S. case. Most people fully recover in two to four weeks, health officials said.

The virus is not as easily transmitted as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that began the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID is spread by respiratory route and is highly infectious. This doesn’t appear to be the case with the monkeypox,” Dr. Martin Hirsch of Massachusetts General Hospital said.

“What seems to be happening now is that it has got into the population as a sexual form, as a genital form, and is being spread as are sexually transmitted infections, which has amplified its transmission around the world,” WHO official David Heymann, an infectious disease specialist, told Reuters.

Also Read | WHO holds emergency meeting on monkeypox: Key takeaways

The most concerning part of the virus currently is that it is occurring in countries where the virus does not regularly circulate. Scientists are trying to understand the origin of the current cases.

Most of the cases reported so far have been detected in the UK, Spain and Portugal. There have also been cases in Canada and Australia, and a single case of monkeypox was confirmed in Boston, with public health officials saying more cases are likely to turn up in the United States.