Monkeypox cases detected in Spain, Portugal and US

Monkeypox cases detected in Spain, Portugal and US
Some of these infections may be through sexual contact — in this instance among gay or bisexual men — which would be a new development in understanding how the virus is transmitted.
May 19, 2022, 6:45 am

An image created during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 1996 to 1997, shows the arms and torso of a patient with skin lesions due to monkeypox. (CDC Handout via REUTERS)

Spain and Portugal have detected over 40 suspected cases of monkeypox, while US authorities reported the country’s first confirmed case.

Officials said Wednesday (May 18), the outbreaks were concentrated in the Spanish and Portuguese capital cities.

The lone US case was detected in Massachusetts. Health officials said the man found with the infection had recently traveled to Canada.

The announcements came just days after British health authorities said they had detected seven cases so far this month, with the World Health Organization working with the government to investigate the outbreak.

Monkeypox was first recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1970s. It is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox, though milder. The number of cases in West Africa has increased in the last decade.

An image created during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 1996 to 1997, shows the hands of a patient with a rash due to monkeypox. (CDC Handout via REUTERS)

Symptoms include fever, headaches and skin rashes starting on the face and spreading to the rest of the body.

The Massachusetts agency said the virus does not spread easily between people, but transmission can occur through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, items such as bedding or clothing that have been contaminated with fluids or sores, or through respiratory droplets following prolonged face-to-face contact.

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Health officials have noted some of these infections may be through sexual contact — in this instance among gay or bisexual men — which would be a new development in understanding how the virus is transmitted.

In a statement, health authorities in the Madrid region said they had detected “23 possible cases of monkeypox,” indicating all of them were believed to have been transmitted through sexual activity.

The statement said, without giving further details: “In general, its transmission is via respiratory drops but the characteristics of the 23 suspected infections point to it being passed on through bodily fluids during sex relations."

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Elena Andradas, head of public health in the Madrid region, told Cadena Ser radio: “All of them are young adult males and most of them are men who have sexual relations with other men, but not all of them."

Portugal’s health ministry said in a statement that another 20 suspected cases of monkeypox have been detected in the Lisbon region. It said: “The cases were all among males, the majority of them young, who had ulcerated lesions."

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