A man from the province of Buenos Aires has monkeypox,
Argentina’s health ministry said in a statement.
An official in the ministry earlier confirmed the positive
case but said health authorities were waiting to finish sequencing the virus
before making the official announcement.
It is the first time the presence of the virus has been
confirmed in Latin America during this latest outbreak in countries around the
world that are not usually known to have outbreaks.
The sequencing of the virus revealed a high degree of
similarity with monkeypox from western Africa, as has been the case with the
new infections around the world, Argentina’s Health Ministry said.
Authorities have revealed little about the patient beyond
saying he traveled to Spain from April 28 through May 16 and had symptoms
compatible with monkeypox, including lesions and a fever, on Sunday.
The man is being treated for his symptoms. All of his close
contacts are being monitored and none have presented any symptoms to date, the
Health Ministry said.
Health authorities in Argentina also reported an additional
suspected case of the virus in a resident of Spain who is currently visiting
the province of Buenos Aires and has no ties to the first case.
The man presented lesions compatible with monkeypox on
Thursday, a day after arriving in the country.
“The patient is in good general health, isolated and
receiving symptomatic treatment,” the Health Ministry added. None of his close
contacts have yet to present any symptoms.
Nearly 200 cases of monkeypox have recently been reported in
more than 20 countries not usually known to have outbreaks of the disease, the
World Health Organization said on Friday. But that looked to be an undercount.
Spain has emerged as an epicenter of this recent outbreak
and health authorities confirmed on Friday there were 98 confirmed cases in the
country. The United Kingdom has reported 106 confirmed cases while Portugal
said Friday the number of people with monkeypox had increased to 74.
Cases have also been reported in the United States, Canada,
Australia, Germany, France and Italy, among others. -AP