RELATED: Monkeypox: What you should know as the disease spreads around the world The agency’s Europe director warned that as summer begins across the continent, mass gatherings, festivals and parties could accelerate the spread of monkeypox. agency said the outbreak is "a highly unusual event" and said the fact that cases are being seen in so many different countries suggests the disease may have been silently spreading for some time. WHO said confirmed cases have so far been the less severe West African group of monkeypox viruses and appeared to be linked to a virus that was first detected in exported cases from Nigeria to Britain, Israel and Singapore in 2018-2019. In recent years, the disease has been fatal in up to 6% of infections, but no deaths have been reported among the current cases. Vaccines against smallpox, a related disease, are also effective in preventing monkeypox and some antiviral drugs are being developed. Most people recover from the disease within several weeks without requiring hospitalization. It can be spread through close contact with an infected person or their clothing or bedsheets, but sexual transmission has not yet been documented. Monkeypox typically causes fever, chills, rash, and lesions on the face or genitals. RELATED: Biden on Monkeypox: Outbreak should concern 'everybody,' as health experts are baffled Heymann chaired an urgent meeting of WHO’s advisory group on infectious disease threats on Friday to assess the ongoing epidemic and said there was no evidence to suggest that monkeypox might have mutated into a more infectious form. Enrique Ruiz Escudero said authorities are investigating possible links between a recent Gay Pride event in the Canary Islands, which drew some 80,000 people, and cases at a Madrid sauna. Madrid’s senior health official said on Monday that the Spanish capital has recorded 30 confirmed cases so far. On Monday, Denmark announced its first case, Portugal revised its total upwards to 37 and Italy reported one further infection. To date, WHO has recorded more than 90 cases of monkeypox in a dozen countries including Britain, Spain, Israel, France, Switzerland, the U.S. RELATED: Year’s 1st case of rare monkeypox reported in the US The four confirmed cases in Germany have been linked to exposure at "party events including on Gran Canaria and in Berlin, where sexual activity took place," it said. That marks a significant departure from the disease’s typical pattern of spread in central and western Africa, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates and outbreaks have not spilled across borders.Ī German government report to lawmakers, obtained by the AP, said it expected to see further cases and that the risk of catching monkeypox "mainly appears to lie with sexual contacts among men."