The Ministry of Health and the communities of Spain activated this Wednesday the health alert for monkey poxafter detecting eight suspected cases in Madrid. It is a rare disease caused by a virus endemic to central and western Africa.
As reported, it still remains to be confirmed that the cases detected are indeed monkeypox. To this end, genetic tests were carried out at the National Microbiology Center and their results are awaited.
From the Ministry of Health they reported that the eight people suspected of having this disease are doing well.
After learning about these cases, the Spanish Health Ministry activated the health alert and contacted the European Alert System to make a global tracking. Happens that United Kingdom also announced in recent days that it was investigating seven cases of this disease. While in Portugalhay five confirmed cases and 20 other suspects.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that the first confirmed case in England is that of a person who traveled from the UK to Nigeria from late April to early May and was in Lagos and Delta states. On April 29, the infected developed a rash and returned to the UK on May 4.
What is monkeypox?
Is a very rare zoonotic disease. The first human cases were identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. The number of cases in West and Central African countries has increased over the past decade.
Outside of Africa, cases of human infections have been documented in several countries, including the US, UK, Israel and Singapore. In all cases, it has been associated with an imported case or with contact with imported animals.
What are the symptoms of monkeypox?
Generally, people with this disease have fever, headache, muscle aches, lymphadenopathy and tiredness.
A few days after the onset of fever, a rash develops (a rash in reddish skin), which often begins on the face and then spread to other parts of the body. It is usually a self-limited illness, and most people recover within several weeks. However, in some cases serious illness can occur.