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Argentina reported two cases of monkeypox virus in men who had recently arrived from Spain on Friday, and this is the first time the presence of the virus in Latin America has been confirmed during the latest outbreak.
Argentina’s health ministry confirmed for the first time that a man from the province of Buenos Aires who had traveled to Spain had smallpox. Later in the day, the ministry said in a statement that a suspicious case of a resident of Spain who had arrived in Argentina earlier in the week was also confirmed positive.
Argentina is now the latest country to confirm cases of monkeypox as part of a global outbreak that has seen the rare virus germinate in several countries with no known outbreaks.
Sequencing of the virus in the first confirmed case revealed a high degree of similarity to West African monkeypox, as has been the case with new infections worldwide, the Ministry of Health said. Argentina.
Authorities have said little about the patients, but said they are both in good health and are being isolated while receiving treatment for their symptoms.
The first confirmed case involved a man who traveled to Spain from April 28 to May 16 and on Sunday showed symptoms compatible with the monkey’s smallpox, including injuries and fever.
All of his close contacts are being monitored and none have shown any symptoms so far, the health ministry said.
The second confirmed case involves a resident of Spain who arrived in Argentina on Wednesday and has no ties to the first case.
The man, who was also in the province of Buenos Aires, presented injuries compatible with the monkey’s smallpox on Thursday.
“The patient is in good general health, isolated and receiving symptomatic treatment,” the Ministry of Health added. None of your close contacts have shown any symptoms yet.
Recently, nearly 200 cases of monkeypox have been reported in more than 20 countries that do not usually have outbreaks of the disease, the World Health Organization said Friday. But it seemed like a low count.
Spain has become the epicenter of this recent outbreak and health authorities confirmed on Friday that there were 98 confirmed cases in the country. The United Kingdom has reported 106 confirmed cases, while Portugal said on Friday that the number of people with smallpox in the monkey had risen to 74.
Cases have also been reported in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, and Italy, among others.
Argentina reports a case of smallpox; man was traveling from Spain
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Citation: Argentina reports 2 cases of smallpox in the monkey (2022, May 28) recovered on May 28, 2022
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