▲ Palm of a patient with monkeypox in Congo, Africa in 1997
Monkey pox, which has been infected in Europe and North America, has been officially reported for the first time in the Middle East.
Yesterday (21st) local time, Israeli media reported that a man in his 30s had been infected with monkey pox the day before.
This man, who recently returned from a trip to Western Europe, visited the hospital with symptoms of monkey pox, and the test result was positive.
The Israeli Ministry of Health said the man had been exposed to a patient with monkeypox while traveling abroad, explaining that he is in stable condition and is being treated in isolation.
Monkey smallpox mainly occurs in central and western Africa, but has been confirmed in several countries in Europe and North America in recent weeks, but there have been no official reports from the Middle East.
Monkey smallpox, a viral disease, causes symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, lymphadenitis, and fatigue, which usually recover within a few weeks, but in some cases, it becomes severe.
The fatality rate is known to be in the range of 1 to 10% depending on the strain.
It is usually transmitted through the respiratory tract, but there is also the possibility of transmission through sexual contact.
(Photo = Reuters, Yonhap News)