Today, Saturday, Israel announced the registration of monkeypox, the first in the Middle East, after several countries in Europe and North America detected cases of the disease, which experts confirm its spread among homosexuals.

A spokesman for Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv told AFP that it was confirmed that a 30-year-old man had monkeypox after he had recently returned from Western Europe with symptoms of the disease.

Yesterday, Friday, the Ministry of Health had reported that the man had contact with a person infected with monkeypox abroad, noting that a sample was taken for examination and that he was placed in quarantine in Ichilov Hospital, with mild symptoms.

In recent weeks, cases of infection have been detected in Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, as well as in the United States, Canada and Australia, and this has raised fears that the virus may spread.


Symptoms and transmission

The virus causes skin blisters, but is rarely fatal, and is endemic in parts of central and western Africa.

Symptoms of the rare disease include fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, fatigue, and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.

The virus can be transmitted through contact with skin blisters or the saliva of an infected person, as well as through contact and joint use of brushes or towels.

The virus is not transmitted as easily as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that catalyzed the global Covid-19 pandemic.

People with monkeypox usually recover after two to four weeks, according to the World Health Organization.

The World Health Organization said that as of Friday, about 80 cases of monkeypox had been confirmed, and there were 50 other cases being verified in 11 countries.

Health Adviser to the Madrid Regional Government, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, explained that the procedures for tracking cases carried out by the Directorate of Public Health of the Madrid Regional Government revealed that most of the cases of the disease were linked to a "sauna" bath frequented by homosexuals.

This was supported by the chief medical adviser at the British Health Security Agency, Susan Hopkins, who said that a significant proportion of recent cases of monkeypox patients in the United Kingdom and Europe were recorded among homosexuals.


protection

Britain has begun vaccinating health care workers, who may be at risk while caring for patients, with a smallpox vaccine that can also protect against monkeypox.

The US government says it has enough smallpox vaccine stored in its Strategic National Stockpile to vaccinate the entire US population.

A spokesman for the US Department of Health and Human Services said - in a statement - that there are antiviral drugs for smallpox that can also be used to treat monkeypox under certain conditions.

More broadly, health officials say people should avoid close contact with someone who has a rash or appears sick, and people who suspect they have monkeypox should self-isolate and seek medical attention.