Cuba Reports Its First Monkeypox Case

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - The first monkeypox case has been registered in Cuba, the patient is a tourist from Italy, the Cuban Public Health Ministry informs.

"The male patient, an Italian by nationality, arrived in Cuba as a tourist on August 15 of this year ... The patient is in critical condition, his life is in danger," the ministry said on Saturday.

The infected individual visited several of Cuba’s provinces before he felt initial symptoms on August 17, the health ministry specified. He was taken to the hospital with cardiac arrest, but was resuscitated.

The severity of the disease in the patient is due to "concomitant causes," Cuba’s health ministry said. Cuba is now taking all the necessary epidemiological measures to prevent a further spread of monkeypox in the country.

In July, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus announced that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.

Most people usually recover from monkeypox within a few weeks without treatment. The symptoms are initially flu-like, such as fever, chills, and swollen lymph nodes, which are then followed by a widespread rash. According to the WHO, the disease can be more severe in young children, pregnant women, and individuals who are immunocompromised.

The monkeypox virus is not easily transmitted and usually spreads through close physical contact, including sexual contact, with an infected individual. The virus can enter the human body through broken skin, the respiratory tract, eyes, nose and mouth, and via bodily fluids. Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease (spread between animals and people). It originates in animals like rodents and primates and occurs in remote parts of Central and West Africa.

Over 35,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide across over 90 countries and territories, according to the WHO, and so far, 12 deaths have been attributed to the disease.