France Records First Suspected Monkeypox Case - Reports

PARIS (Sputnik) - The first suspected case of monkeypox had been detected in France, national broadcaster BFMTV reported on Thursday, citing a document from the national health agency.

On Wednesday, the UK Health Security Agency announced that so far nine citizens had been infected with monkeypox, with reports saying that several cases of the disease have also been registered in Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

In a letter to French health workers, the agency said that the case had been detected in the Ile-de-France region that surrounds the capital city of Paris. According to the agency, to confirm that this is the first case of monkeypox, further analysis still need to be carried out.

As defined by the health agency, a suspected case of monkeypox involves patients with a fever above 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) followed by "a vesicular eruption," pneumonia or encephalitis of unclear etiology.

Monkeypox is a rare viral disease, which is usually transmitted to people from wild animals and predominantly occurs in African countries. Monkeypox can be transmitted from human to human through body fluids, respiratory droplets, and other contaminated materials. The disease usually results in fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes, with case fatality rate ranging from 1% to 10%.