Europe: Italy and Sweden have become the nations to report cases of the monkey pox following the first-ever global outbreak.
The person from Italy has tested positive at a hospital in Rome after returning from the Canary Islands as well as the Swede was diagnosed in Stockholm.
No additional details have been given. It brings the maximum number of nations outside Africa with confirmed or suspected cases to seven.
Moreover, patients with the confirmed monkey pox have been reported in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Spain and Portugal, while Canada is probing potential cases.
The experts fear the known cases are the tip of the iceberg. With the majority of patients not linked to each other, they suggested that it is spreading more widely.
Along with this, the outbreak has been described as ‘unusual’ by health care experts because person-to-person transmission of monkey pox was thought to be extremely rare.
In addition, until now, the virus had only ever been noticed in four-nation outside of western or central Africa, as well as all of the cases had direct travel links to the continent.
The majority of the British and Spanish cases are of gay and bisexual men, which officials say is ‘highly suggestive of spread in sexual networks’.
Meanwhile, the patients that have been admitted to hospitals in other nations have not been disclosed.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency mentioned in the statement, “One person in the Stockholm region has been confirmed to be infected with monkey pox.”
As per the agency, “The infected person ‘is not seriously ill but has been given care.”
Meanwhile, an agency’s infectious disease doctor and investigator, Klara Sonden, “We still don’t know where the person was infected. An investigation is currently underway.”
The health authorities said, “investigating whether there are more cases in Sweden with the regional infection control centers.”
Furthermore, the hospital stated that Italy’s patient was holidaying in the Canary Islands and is now isolated at the Spallanzani hospital in Rome.
