Sri Lanka Registers First Monkeypox Case

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - Sri Lanka's Health Ministry said on Friday it had detected the first case of monkeypox in the country.

The virus has been detected in a 20-year-old man, who came to Sri Lanka from Dubai on November 1, according to the country's health minister, Keheliya Rambukwella.

The Medical Research Institute (MRI) of Sri Lanka said on Friday that the man had been referred to a clinic with enlarged lymph nodes, fever and skin blisters on November 2. The MRI collected samples and conducted a PCR test on monkeypox, which was confirmed as a result.

The UK Health Security Agency was the first health authority outside Africa to report a case of monkeypox on May 7, in a patient who had recently traveled to Nigeria. Since then, monkeypox outbreaks have been confirmed in various countries across the world. In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease a public health emergency of international concern. On November 1, the the WHO said that the virus outbreak remained a public health emergency of international concern despite some progress having been made in the global response to the disease.

As of November 2, 77,935 confirmed monkeypox cases, including 36 fatalities, had been registered in 109 countries since the beginning of 2022, according to the latest data from the WHO.

Monkeypox is a rare viral disease that is usually transmitted to people from wild animals and is endemic in some African countries. The disease can be transmitted through body fluids, respiratory droplets and other contaminated materials. The disease usually results in fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes.