Monkey pox: three cases now confirmed in France

Three days after the detection of the first case in France, three cases of monkeypox have now been confirmed since Monday.

“To date, these cases have occurred mainly, but not only, in men who have sex with men (MSM), without direct links with people returning from endemic areas”, specifies Public Health France.

Read alsoMonkey pox: how to explain this upsurge in cases in Europe and North America?

SPF adds that "the current European context constitutes an alert and suggests contamination in Europe" and that the long-term monitoring of "Monkeypox" passes in France by "the system of compulsory declaration is reinforced and messages of information and alert are addressed to health professionals".

i ️ The number of confirmed cases of monkey pox in France increases to 3, i.e. 2 additional compared to Friday, indicates @SantePubliqueFr this evening.

#monkeypox https://t.co/4rpOT61WFI pic.twitter.com/1mbkepWCfa

— Nicolas Berrod (@nicolasberrod) May 23, 2022

In total, more than 170 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported outside Africa.

Cases have so far been confirmed in a dozen European countries but also in Australia, Canada and the United States.

Nine EU countries (Austria, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden) currently have 67 cases, according to the European Union's disease agency (ECDC) .

Early identification and isolation

The WHO, however, expressed confidence in the possibility of “stopping” the transmission of the disease between humans in these “non-endemic” countries, during a question and answer session on Monday.

The early identification and isolation of cases are part of the measures recommended by the WHO and by the ECDC, she stressed, adding that there were currently no serious cases.

Read alsoMonkey pox: how is this virus transmitted?

The disease, a less dangerous cousin of smallpox, eradicated for about forty years, is endemic in 11 West African countries and in Central Africa.

It first results in a high fever and quickly evolves into a rash, with the formation of scabs.

What intrigues and concerns experts is the simultaneous appearance of cases in many countries, in people who, for the most part, had no direct link to the countries where the disease is endemic.