The United States and European countries, including Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Italy and Sweden, confirmed the case of a rare African disease, the monkeypox, this Thursday.
Doctors at Rome’s Splanjani Hospital say a man has contracted monkeypox after returning from a trip to the Canary Islands. According to Reuters and the Italian daily La Repubblica, two more cases are suspicious, but not certain.
Sweden, meanwhile, has confirmed a case of monkeypox in the Stockholm area, according to a press release from the Swedish Public Health Agency.
“The man in Sweden who confirmed the virus was not seriously ill, but he was taken care of,” he said. Swedish health official Clara Sunden said in a statement. “We still don’t know where the person was infected.” He said an investigation is underway to determine its scope “Very unusual” Diseases.
Swedish health officials say they have reported the case to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Symptoms include sores, fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue. Monkeypox causes skin problems “It is often reported locally on the skin around the genitals, groin and anus,” Sweden’s public health agency said on Wednesday.
ECDC notes “Abnormally high frequency of human-to-human transmission” Recently confirmed and suspected cases have been reported in Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom. It says “The potential for further spread of the virus through close contact, for example during sexual activity, is considered high.” And that “Intimate contact during sex, including infectious skin lesions, appears to be a possible mode of transmission.” In the absence of close contact the chances of infection are considered low.
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