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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed a mask recommendation from its monkeypox travel alert.
According to Reuters, the agency said it took that part of the notice to avoid “confusion” over the virus and how it spreads.
“Late yesterday, CDC removed the mask recommendation from the monkeypox Travel Health Notice because it caused confusion,” a CDC spokesperson told the outlet on Tuesday.
The CDC did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
CDC RAISES MONKEYPOX ALERT TO LEVEL 2, RECOMMENDS MASKS DURING TRAVEL
Previously the CDC travel alert said wearing a mask can “help protect you from many diseases, including monkeypox.”
Now, it advised travelers to avoid contact with dead or live wild animals and sick people, including those with skin lesions or genital lesions.
This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. Monkeypox, a disease that rarely appears outside Africa, has been identified by European and American health authorities in recent days.
(Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP)
In addition, people should avoid eating or preparing meat from wild game or using products derived from wild animals from Africa and avoid contact with contaminated materials used by sick people or that came into contact with infected animals.
The CDC raised its alert level for monkeypox to level 2 on Monday.
As of June 3, there have been 35 reported monkeypox cases across the country.
Hundreds have been reported in Europe and numerous other countries globally.
Although the majority of new monkeypox cases have been seen in gay or bisexual men, experts caution that anyone is at potential risk.
People normally become infected with the monkeypox virus through contact with the skin lesions or bodily fluids of infected animals or humans – including respiratory droplets – or through contact with materials contaminated with the virus.
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Monkeypox, which is related to smallpox, has milder symptoms.
Some of those symptoms include fever, chills, rash and aches, before lesions develop.
