Monkeypox: WHO regrets attacks against primates in Brazil

"People need to know that the transmission we're seeing now is between humans," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a regular press briefing in Geneva.

She was being asked about reports of attacks on monkeys in Brazil, with some people making a direct link to monkeypox.

However, only the name of the disease has a connection with the primate.

The Brazilian news site G1 reported that a dozen monkeys were poisoned, and some injured, in less than a week in a nature reserve in Rio do Preto, in the state of Sao Paulo.

Read alsoMonkey pox: why the name of this disease should be changed

Others were stoned, chased or poisoned in different Brazilian cities, according to G, who quotes the association for the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking Renctas.

Brazil has reported more than 1,700 cases and one death, according to WHO statistics.

Worldwide, more than 28,100 cases and 12 deaths have been reported.

Why does monkeypox still have this name?

The term sign pox was used when this virus was discovered in 1958 in monkeys in a laboratory in Denmark, but the virus has been demonstrated in different animal species, especially rodents.

The first human case was detected in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This virus can be transmitted from animals to humans, but the recent explosion in cases worldwide is due to transmission between humans during close contact, said Margaret Harris.

People "definitely shouldn't prey on animals," she said, stressing that the best way to curb the spread of the virus was to recognize the symptoms, get help from a doctor and to take "precautions to prevent transmission".

The WHO triggered its highest level of alert at the end of July in order to strengthen the fight against the disease.

The most common symptoms are fever, muscle aches, loss of energy and swollen lymph nodes, followed or accompanied by a rash.