Numerous monkeypox cases in Europe: Italy and Belgium are also likely to be affected - RKI is warning men in particular

Created: 05/20/2022, 05:12

By: Jennifer Lanzinger, Fabian Müller

This electron micrograph provided by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) shows the monkeypox virus.

Four more cases have been recorded in the UK.

© Andrea Männel/RKI/dpa

Monkeypox has now also arrived in America, a first case was registered after a trip to Canada.

The RKI also warns doctors in this country.

Update from May 19, 11:57 p.m.:

According to a report, a first case of monkeypox has been detected in Belgium.

The infected person reported to the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, the public broadcaster VRT reported on Thursday evening, citing the researcher Isabel Brosius.

The infected person was not very ill, it said.

The person's contacts would be identified.

Update from May 19, 9:35 p.m .:

Monkeypox is currently causing an unusual accumulation of infections.

What does this mean for Europe?

And how dangerous are they for us?

This is what the virus looks like, these are the symptoms and this is how you get infected.

Update from May 19, 2:25 p.m .:

More and more countries are reporting monkeypox cases, now Italy has also registered a case of the virus disease.

The Assessor of Health for the Lazio Region, Alessio D'Amato, confirmed on Thursday a first recorded case of the virus infection.

D'Amato wrote on Facebook that he informed Health Minister Roberto Speranza about the finding, which had been confirmed by the National Institute for Infectious Diseases.

The institute announced a press release for Thursday.

The Ansa news agency reported that the infected person was a man who returned from a trip to the Canary Islands and went to a hospital in Rome.

It was said that he was isolated there.

Monkeypox now also in Sweden - More and more countries are reporting virus cases

Update from May 19, 1:40 p.m .:

The first case of infection with the virus disease monkeypox was confirmed in Sweden on Thursday.

As the Swedish health authority announced, one person in the greater Stockholm area is infected.

"The person infected with the virus in Sweden is not seriously ill, but is being treated," said infection medicine specialist Klara Sondén, according to the announcement.

“We don’t yet know where the person got infected.

Investigations are ongoing.” Sweden is the fourth country in Europe to have registered a case of monkeypox.

In the meantime, monkeypox has also arrived in the USA (see original message below).

According to the Swedish health authority, the most common symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, general malaise and a skin rash with blisters.

The authority is now investigating whether there are other cases in Sweden.

Monkeypox now arrived in the USA - Three European countries are also reporting the first cases

Original notification from May 19, 2022:

New York – In most cases, they cause mild symptoms, but they can also have severe courses: monkeypox.

After several cases in Great Britain, Spain and Portugal, they have now also been found in the USA.

The Robert Koch Institute also published a statement on monkeypox this week.

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Monkeypox has now also arrived in the USA: Three other countries are reporting the first cases

As the health authority CDC announced on Wednesday, the disease was registered in a resident of the state of Massachusetts in the northeast of the country.

The person had recently traveled to Canada, but the virus had been detected in the United States.

Monkeypox is usually transmitted through the air.

In some of the recent cases, however, experts suspected fluid infection because the patients were gay men.

In view of the cases in Great Britain, the Robert Koch Institute had recently made doctors in Germany aware of the virus infection.

RKI provides information about monkeypox - men in particular should be vigilant under certain circumstances

An article published by the RKI states that monkeypox should also be considered as a possible cause in the case of unclear smallpox-like skin changes if those affected have not traveled to certain areas.

Up to now, monkeypox has mainly been known to occur in some regions of Africa.

According to the RKI, men who have sex with men should “immediately seek medical care” if they have any unusual skin changes.

According to the health authority UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the number of recorded cases of the rare disease in Great Britain had increased to seven from Monday.

Two more cases had already been reported in the UK by Wednesday.

The two most recent cases in London and south-east England are unrelated to travel to countries where the disease is endemic.

It is therefore possible that the contagion could have spread from person to person in Great Britain, the message said on Wednesday evening.

The first infection, which became known in Great Britain at the beginning of May, is said to be due to an infection in Nigeria.

According to the UKHSA, the virus disease usually causes only mild symptoms, but can also have severe courses.

Smallpox has been considered eradicated worldwide since 1980 after a major vaccination campaign.

Experts suspect that the monkeypox pathogen circulates in rodents, monkeys are considered false hosts.