Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Rochelle Walinsky said that 9 cases of monkeypox have been identified in 7 US states.

Alinsky told a press conference that “local labs have identified nine cases while health officials have taken steps to treat those infected and prevent the spread of the virus,” and explained that “infections have been found in Massachusetts, Florida, Utah, Washington , California, Virginia and New York.

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization confirmed 131 confirmed cases of monkeypox and 106 other suspected cases.

And for the first time, the disease was reported outside the countries where it is spreading in the UK in the first week of May.

The World Health Organization stressed that despite the rapid spread of the disease in Europe and North America, “the situation is stable and can be contained.”

Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and muscle pain, as well as fatigue, chills, and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.

Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when laboratory monkeys developed a disease similar to smallpox, hence the name.

Monkeypox is a rare virus similar to human smallpox that was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1970s.