Published on 23.05.2022
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Sickness ” A case of monkey pox has been detected in the canton of Bern.
A first case of monkey pox has been detected in Switzerland, the Health Department of the canton of Bern announced on Saturday. This is a person living in the canton of Bern, who was exposed to the virus abroad. Contact tracing, in order to identify possible chains of transmission, has been carried out, said the Bernese cantonal authorities. The infected person was exposed to the virus abroad. She is followed on an outpatient basis and is in isolation at her home. All contacts have been informed.
This illness is a less dangerous cousin of smallpox, eradicated forty years ago. It first results in a high fever and quickly evolves into a rash, with the formation of scabs, especially on the face.
People returning from a trip to a risk area (West and Central Africa) should monitor their state of health and consult a doctor in the event of symptoms, recommends the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) on its site. The virus is considered moderately transmissible to humans, says the FOPH.
The transmission occurs through large droplets and through close contact with infected people or animals. Men who have sex with men appear to be at an additional risk of infection. There is no specific vaccine once morest monkeypox.
The disease spread to France and Germany on Friday, with one case confirmed in each country by their health authorities. For its part, the United Kingdom announced yesterday that it was registering new cases of monkeypox every day, said Susan Hopkins, an official with the British Health Security Agency. The government says it takes the subject “very seriously”, while UNAIDS warns once morest homophobia which might quickly undermine the fight once morest this disease.
“In the cases we’ve seen so far in the UK, the vast majority of people recover on their own,” Ms Hopkins reassured. ATS
