A first case of monkeypox has been detected in Switzerland in a person living in the canton of Bern, but who was exposed to the virus abroad, the Health Directorate of the canton of Bern announced on Saturday.
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Contact tracing, in order to identify possible chains of transmission, has been carried out, the cantonal authorities said in a press release. The infected person is monitored on an outpatient basis and is in isolation at home. All contacts have been informed, authorities said.
This first suspected case of monkeypox was reported on Friday. The laboratory analyzes carried out confirmed the suspicion on Saturday followingnoon.
Several Western countries including France, Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Spain and Sweden have identified cases.
Monkeypox or “simian orthopoxvirus” is a rare disease whose pathogen can be transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa.
Its symptoms resemble, in less serious, those which one observed in the past at the subjects reached of smallpox: fever, headaches, muscular pains, dorsal, during the first five days. Then appear rashes, lesions, pustules and finally scabs.
There is no cure for monkeypox, which usually resolves on its own and symptoms last 14 to 21 days.
Severe cases occur more frequently in children and are related to the extent of exposure to the virus, the patient’s medical condition and the severity of complications.
Depending on the epidemics, the case fatality rate might vary enormously, but it remained below 10% in all documented cases, mainly in young children.
Human-to-human transmission can result from close contact with infected respiratory tract secretions, skin lesions of an infected person, or objects recently contaminated with body fluids or material from a patient’s lesions.
Most recent cases in Western countries have been among men who have sex with men, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, which said it wanted to shed light on the transmission of the virus. especially within the homosexual community.
