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PARIS – The number of confirmed cases of the smallpox virus in France has risen to five, from three earlier this week, French Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon told RTL radio on Wednesday as she promoted a campaign to vaccination against this virus.
The French health authority said earlier this week that it recommended vaccinating at-risk adults who have been in contact with a patient with confirmed smallpox. Health personnel who have been exposed to a smallpox patient should also receive the vaccine, he added.
World health authorities have sounded the alarm over the increase in cases in Europe and elsewhere of monkeypox, which is the most common type of viral infection in West and Central Africa.
Smallpox is a virus that can cause symptoms such as fever, pain and a characteristic rash.
It is usually mild, although there are two main strains: the Congo strain, with a mortality rate of up to 10%, and the West African strain, which has a mortality rate of around 1% of cases. (Report by Nicolas Delame and Laetitia Volga; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)