Monkeypox virus outbreak: Ireland, Argentina latest countries to report cases; global tally crosses 200

Pic courtesy: Reuters

Ireland has confirmed its first case of monkeypox, the country's health agency said on Saturday (May 28), reported Reuters. The report adds that a separate suspected case is also being investigated and test results are awaited, the Health Service Executive (HSE) said in a statement.

Argentina reported two cases of the monkeypox virus on Friday in men who had recently arrived from Spain, marking the first time the presence of the virus has been confirmed in Latin America during this latest outbreak, reported AP. Argentina's health ministry first confirmed a man from the province of Buenos Aires who had travelled to Spain has monkeypox. Later in the day, the ministry said in a statement that a suspected case involving a resident of Spain who had arrived in Argentina earlier in the week was also confirmed positive.

Ireland and Argentina have now become the latest countries to confirm cases of monkeypox as part of a global outbreak that has seen the rare virus sprout up in several countries that are not usually known to have outbreaks. Around 20 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with more than 200 confirmed or suspected infections mostly in Europe.

Spain has emerged as an epicenter of the recent outbreak and health authorities confirmed on Friday there were 98 confirmed cases in the country. The United Kingdom has reported 106 confirmed cases while Portugal said on Friday that the number of people with monkeypox had increased to 74. Cases have also been reported in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, France and Italy, among others.

Monkeypox: NOT a sexually transmitted infection

According to the top official of the World Health Organization (WHO), most of the cases that have been detected in non-endemic areas are among populations of men having sex with men, that identify as men having sex with men, but it not necessarily will be only exclusive to that group."So, we want to make sure that we don't stigmatize anyone related to this. This is about raising awareness. This is not a sexually transmitted infection. We do know that Monkeypox does transmit primarily from physical contact, skin to skin contact and that includes sexual contact," Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of COVID-19 response at the WHO's Emergency Diseases Unit said.

Monkeypox is not the same as Covid-19

The WHO official noted that Monkeypox is not the same as Covid-19 and "we are not seeing that type of expansion". Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. According to WHO, Monkeypox typically presents clinically with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks.

(With inputs from Agencies)