Two cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Berlin.

This was announced by the Senate Department for Health on Saturday.

The condition of the two patients is stable.

Contact persons are currently being investigated.

Sequencing should reveal whether it is the West or Central African strain of the virus.

"It can be assumed that further infections may be registered in the next few days."

Health Senator Ulrike Gote (Greens) said there was no reason to panic, but reason to be cautious, as many scientific findings about the disease were still preliminary.

“However, experts assume that we do not have to fear a new pandemic.

But we now have to act quickly and consistently to identify and contain cases of infection.”

The health administration is in close contact with the health authorities, the Robert Koch Institute, the Charité and the Federal Ministry of Health in order to protect the Berlin population from the monkeypox virus as best as possible.

Prof. Leif Erik Sander, Head of Infectious Diseases at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, pointed out that the dynamics of the current monkeypox outbreak are unusual and must be taken very seriously.

"So far we have observed a disproportionate increase in monkeypox infections among men, especially after sexual contact with other men."

Transmission through close skin contact

Since the infection is transmitted through close skin contact and possibly also through mucous membrane contact and droplets, he recommends particular caution and avoidance of close unprotected contact with unknown people.

"Especially if there are typical symptoms of the disease, you should limit contacts and seek medical treatment quickly," says Sander.

"The Charité is prepared for the treatment of infected people and works closely with the RKI and the public health service."

The Berlin family doctor and infectiologist Heiko Jessen told the German Press Agency that the two infected people, aged 30 and 55, were long-standing patients with him.

According to his assessment, there is no connection between the two cases.

The 55-year-old was apparently infected in Berlin because he said he had not left the city.

In his case, he had already received confirmation from the Robert Koch Institute on Friday evening that he was infected with monkeypox, said Jessen.

In the 30-year-old, whose infection was only confirmed on Saturday, the symptoms are even clearer.

Among other things, Jessen named fever, headaches and body aches as well as smallpox-like ulcers that were painful and had spread to different parts of the body.

The first symptoms appeared on Monday, said the doctor with a practice in Berlin-Schoeneberg.

The infected person was at Christopher Street Day in Gran Canaria around two weeks earlier.

First infected in Munich

On Friday there was the first confirmation of a case of monkeypox in Germany.

According to the Bavarian Ministry of Health, it was about a 26-year-old from Brazil who had traveled from Portugal to Munich via Spain.

The monkeypox virus usually causes only very mild symptoms, but can also have severe courses.

According to the State Ministry of Health, there are also indications “of possible contact between people with the monkeypox virus” in North Rhine-Westphalia.

A spokesman for the ministry told the German Press Agency on Saturday that these tips will be followed up.