Six cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Belgium, Sciensano announced on Wednesday. One potential case still remains, the results of the screening PCR test not yet being known. These are seven men who have had sex with other men.
The first four cases listed on Sunday in our country all concern men who attended the Darklands festival, a homosexual fetish festival taking place in Antwerp. Sciensano did not specify whether the newly reported cases are also related to this event. The National Institute of Public Health also indicated that the epidemiological situation was “closely monitored” by its teams. The Institute’s Risk Assessment Group is working on a series of recommendations for suspected cases and for contacts of confirmed cases. More information on monkeypox for the medical community should be available on the Sciensano website in the coming days. Since the beginning of May, cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide, unrelated to travel to countries where the virus is endemic, such as West Africa and central Africa. Most contaminations concern men who have had sex with other men.