Insight Bureau: Cases of monkeypox are being investigated in European countries, as well as the US, Canada and Australia, according to health officials and local media reports.
The latest new cases have been reported in France, Italy, Sweden and Australia.
The confirmation of cases in the US, Spain and Portugal on Wednesday, as well as the investigation of 13 suspected cases in Canada also reported.
The virus is most common in remote parts of central and west Africa.
Cases of illness outside the region are often associated with travel to the region.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that is usually mild and from which most people recover within a few weeks, according to the UK National Health Service.
The virus does not spread easily between people and the risk to the general public is said to be very low.
The first case of the disease in the UK was reported on May 7th. The patient had recently traveled to Nigeria, where he is believed to have contracted the virus, before traveling to England, Britain’s Health Security Agency said.
There are now nine confirmed cases in the UK. The source of these infections has not yet been confirmed, but the cases appear to have been “locally acquired,” says the World Health Organization (WHO).
Australia on Friday reported its first suspected case in a man who fell ill after returning from a trip in Europe.
In Europe, a confirmed case was reported in Sweden on Thursday, as well as one in Italy and a suspected case in France. Swedish authorities said they were not sure how the person contracted the virus, but local media reports that the person in Italy recently returned from the Canary Islands.
Five confirmed cases were also reported in Portugal on Wednesday, as well as seven in Spain.
Although no monkeypox vaccine has been approved in Europe, Spanish health authorities have reportedly bought thousands of smallpox vaccines to fight the outbreak, according to Spanish newspaper El País. Monkeypox is a member of the same virus family as smallpox.
In North America, the health authorities in the US state of Massachusetts also confirmed that a man had contracted monkeypox.
He had recently traveled to Canada, where local media reports that 13 suspected cases of the virus are being investigated.
According to health officials, the man was taken to the hospital, is in “good condition” and “poses no risk to the community.”