Belgium, with only four confirmed cases of monkey pox, decreed a mandatory 21-day quarantine for those infected, reported the Risk Assessment Group (RAG). It is estimated that the ulcers that cause the disease remit in regarding three weeks.
Those who contract the virus will now have to self-isolate for three weeks, Belgian health authorities said.
According to the portal Infobaeall the cases detected in Belgium are related to a fetish festival called Darklands, aimed at the homosexual community. “There are reasons to suppose that the virus has been brought by visitors from abroad to the festival following recent cases in other countries,” organizers said.
The virus of monkey poxwhich causes skin rashes on various parts of the body and usually heals on its own, was first identified in humans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.
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In recent days, cases have been detected in several European countries, in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Its symptoms resemble, to a lesser degree, those observed in the past in subjects with smallpox: fever, headache, muscle and back pain during the first five days.
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Rashes (on the face, palms of the hands, soles of the feet), lesions, pustules, and finally scabs then appear.
The United Kingdom raised the alarm on May 7 and as reported by the British Health Minister this Friday, there are already 20 people infected in the country.
With the exception of the first case — the infected person had recently traveled to Nigeria — the patients were infected in the United Kingdom.
According to the WHO’s health officer in Europe, Hans Kluge, the transmission might be driven by the fact that “the cases that are currently being detected are among people who have sex”, and many do not recognize the symptoms.
Most of the cases in recent days have been in men who have sex with men and have sought treatment at sexual health clinics, Kluge said.
“This suggests that the transmission may have started some time ago,” he added.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that it wanted to clarify, with the help of the United Kingdom, the cases detected since the beginning of May, especially in the homosexual community.
Kluge’s statement comes following France, Belgium and Germany They announced their first cases.
Italy has also recorded three cases of infected people so far, health authorities said on Friday.
The disease was identified for the first time on Thursday in a young man who had recently returned from the Canary Islands (Spain) and in two other people this Friday, said the Institute of Infectious Diseases of the Spallanzani Hospital in Rome.
In Spain, the authorities closed a sauna in the capital. The establishment — a gay place called “El Paraíso” — is suspected of being the origin of many infections in the Community of Madrid.
According to local authorities, there are 21 confirmed cases and 19 suspected cases in the region.
In Spain, Health is the responsibility of the regions, so the global count is not immediate.
At the national level, the Ministry of Health only confirms seven cases at the moment, while another 23 have tested positive for “smallpox non-human” and have yet to be sequenced “to determine what kind of smallpox es”.
If confirmed, the national balance would rise to 30 cases, which would make Spain the country with the most identified infections in Europe.
According to the chief medical adviser of the British health security agency in the United Kingdom, Susan Hopkins, “this increase will continue in the coming days and more cases will be identified in the community in general”.
In particular, he urged gay and bisexual men to be vigilant for symptoms, stating that a “remarkable proportion” of cases in the UK and Europe come from this group.
Infection in early cases is due to direct contact with blood, body fluids, skin lesions, or mucous membranes of infected animals. According to the WHO, symptoms last between 14 and 21 days.
With information from AFP
