Monkey pox (monkeypox): in which countries have cases been detected?

The symptoms generated by monkeypox 1:33

(CNN) --

Health authorities in several countries have detected new cases of monkeypox.

All health organizations urge to monitor the disease to avoid large spreads in the world.

• Monkey pox (monkeypox): What is it, what are its symptoms, how is it transmitted and is there a vaccine?

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a statement on Thursday that it is closely monitoring the monkeypox situation and is in contact with the Member States of the EU and the countries participating in the Health Security Committee.

"A rapid risk assessment is being prepared and will be published early next week," the health agency added.

These are the countries that have confirmed cases of monkeypox:

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UK registers 9 cases

There are now nine cases in the UK, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Thursday.

The agency first reported a case on May 6.

Since then, eight more cases have occurred, bringing the total to nine.

The UKHSA reported: "Since 6 May, the latest cases bring to 9 the total number of confirmed cases of monkeypox in England, predominantly in gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men."

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• A rare case of monkeypox is reported in the UK

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Portugal reports 14 infected

In Portugal there have been 14 cases of monkeypox, according to Margarida Tavares, spokesperson for the Working Group on Monkeypox, during a briefing held on Thursday.

"It is an outbreak because, by definition, an outbreak occurs whenever we have a number of cases above what is expected and, in this case, we did not expect it, that is, we had never seen it (in Portugal). It is not normal to see cases of human infection with the monkeypox virus and, therefore, it is an outbreak. We already have 14 cases that meet the definition of an outbreak," Tavares said.

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Belgium adds 1 case

In Belgium, one case was confirmed on Thursday after authorities sent a sample to the Netherlands for testing, said Isabel Brosius of the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine.

Brosius added that there is a possibility of a second case that is the partner of the confirmed case.

"The couple has similar symptoms, but it has not yet been confirmed if they have the virus," she said.

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Spain confirms 7 cases

On Thursday, Canada, France, Spain and Italy confirmed their first cases of the virus.

Enrique Ruiz Escudero, Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid, in Spain, confirmed seven cases and another 22 that are being analyzed to detect possible infections.

"We are convinced that more cases will appear," he said.

Canada investigates cases of monkeypox in homosexuals 0:26

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France announces its first case

France's public health agency announced on Friday the first confirmed case of monkeypox in the country.

France's Public Health agency said the suspected case was confirmed by health authorities on Thursday in the Ile-de-France region, according to a statement released on Friday.

The patient is a 29-year-old man with no travel ties to countries where the virus has been identified, according to the statement, adding that he is not suffering from serious symptoms and is in quarantine at home.

French epidemiological authorities have opened an investigation into the case, the health agency said.

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Australia presents a suspected case

Separately, in Australia, the NSW Health office said on May 20, 2022 that it had identified a probable case of monkeypox in a person who had recently traveled to Europe.

The press release added that urgent tests have been carried out that have identified a probable case of monkeypox, with confirmation tests underway.

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The United States monitors 6 people who may have monkeypox

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is monitoring six people in the United States for possible monkeypox infections after they sat near an infected traveler who had symptoms during a flight from Nigeria to the UK in early May.

Separately, CDC officials are also investigating a confirmed case of monkeypox in a Massachusetts man who had recently traveled to Canada.

And the New York City Department of Health is investigating a possible infection in a patient currently at Bellevue Hospital.

"The Department of Health's Public Health Laboratory will conduct preliminary tests which, if positive, will be forwarded to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmatory testing," the department said in a statement. statement this Thursday.

In the United States, the last recorded outbreak of monkeypox was in 2003, when 47 confirmed and probable cases were reported in six states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

"No case of monkeypox infection was attributed exclusively to person-to-person contact," according to the CDC.

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Africa had monkeypox outbreaks between 2020 and 2022

Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, acting director of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news conference in Johannesburg on Thursday that Africa had experience of monkeypox outbreaks.

"There has been monkeypox in Africa. During the covid-19 pandemic we had at least two outbreaks of monkeypox on the continent. They all went unnoticed. We managed and contained them. But now in other parts of the world it becomes a great news," he said.

These outbreaks occurred between the years 2020 and 2022 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, according to Ouma.

"We do not have clear information at this time to suggest that there is a link between the current outbreaks of monkeypox in various areas and the Covid-19 pandemic. Suffice it to say that both pathogens come from animals and reach the human side of the virus. This, while not suggesting a relationship, shows that the possibility of one affecting the other is something that definitely needs to be further investigated," added Dr. Ouma.

With reporting from CNN's Jacqueline Howard, Joseph Ataman and Elias Lemercier.

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