Tel Aviv, Israel – Israeli authorities say they have identified the country’s first monkeypox case among a man returning from abroad and investigating other suspicious cases.
The ministry’s public health chief, Sharon Alroy-Press, told Israeli Army Radio on Sunday that medical teams were investigating other suspected monkeypox cases.
The Israeli case was first identified in the Middle East.
The World Health Organization has identified about 80 cases worldwide and identified about 50 suspected cases.
The incidence of smallpox-related disease has previously been found only in people associated with Central and West Africa. However, there have been reports of infections in Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United States, Sweden and Canada, mostly among young people who have not traveled to Africa before. France, Germany, Belgium and Australia have also identified cases.
The virus originates in primates and other wild animals and causes fever, body aches, chills and fatigue in most patients. In severe cases, the person may have rashes and sores on the face, hands and other parts of the body.
