A first case of monkeypox has been detected in Hesse.
The result was confirmed by electron microscopy and PCR by the Institute for Medical Virology at the University Hospital in Frankfurt, headed by virologist Sandra Ciesek.
The infected person presented to the university clinic on Tuesday with the corresponding symptoms.
Monica Ganster
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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“The general risk of infection for the population with monkeypox can be assessed as low.
Nevertheless, we are of course also following developments very closely," said Hesse's Health Minister Kai Klose.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach had previously announced on the sidelines of the German Doctors’ Day in Bremen that isolation for at least 21 days should generally be recommended for infected people in Germany.
The background to this is that up to 21 days can elapse between infection and the appearance of the first symptoms of infection with the monkeypox virus.
Monkeypox is a rare viral disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals, most likely rodents.
Transmission from person to person is rare, but possible, especially in very close contact.
The first symptoms of the disease are fever, headache, muscle and back pain and swollen lymph nodes.
There may also be a widespread skin rash.
In contrast to human smallpox (variola), which has been eradicated since 1980, monkeypox is usually much milder, the Robert Koch Institute reports on its website.
Most people recover within several weeks.