A sauna in Madrid, suspected of being a source of transmission of monkeypox, has been forced to close, local health authorities confirmed to AFP on Friday evening, as this rare disease spreads in Europe and especially in Spain.
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The sauna, a gay establishment called El Paraiso and located in the heart of Madrid, is suspected to be the source of many infections in the Madrid region.
“The sauna [El] Paraiso will remain closed for the next few days as a precautionary measure in the face of the alert concerning the appearance of an infection called the monkey virus in the Madrid region”, tweeted the establishment, which calls “to do evidence of individual responsibility to avoid transmission”.
“The majority of people declared positive have a link with this focus of transmission”, explained to the press Friday Enrique Ruiz Escudero, head of Health in the Madrid region, reporting 21 confirmed cases and 19 presumed cases in this region.
According to him, it is to be expected that the number of cases identified will increase in the coming days.
In Spain, Health being the responsibility of the regions, there may be a delay in the transmission of data to the Ministry of Health.
Indeed, at the national level, the Ministry of Health is content for the moment to confirm 7 cases. Twenty-three others were found to be positive following a PCR test, which detected “non-human smallpox”, and must now be “sequenced to determine the type of smallpox”. It might therefore be 30 cases in total if the sequencing confirms that it is indeed the same disease, which would make Spain the most affected country in Europe.
In addition, several regions such as Galicia, the Basque Country or Extremadura have also reported suspected cases of monkeypox.
Monkeypox is a cousin of smallpox, eradicated for regarding forty years. Less dangerous than its cousin, it first results in a high fever, then quickly evolves into a rash, with the appearance of scabs, especially on the face.
Most, but not exclusively, cases have occurred in men who have sex with men.
These cases are not serious at the moment. Although it is early to be sure, they seem to come out of a rather mild strain of the virus with a mortality rate of 1%.
After the United States, several European countries are in turn affected by monkeypox, in particular Portugal, France and Germany.
A total of 80 cases are confirmed and around 50 more are under investigation, according to the World Health Organization.
