Brazil monitors three suspected cases of monkeypox
Brazil´s Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday (May 31) that it is monitoring three suspected cases of monkeypox in the country. The cases have been registered in the states of Santa Catarina, Ceará, and Rio Grande do Sul. According to the ministry, so far there are no confirmed cases of the disease in the country.
In Ceará, the suspected case is a man living in the capital Fortaleza. According to the State Health Agency, measures are being taken for home isolation and collection of material for exams.
In Rio Grande do Sul, local health authorities consider as suspicious a case that has been monitored since Friday (27), namely a man from Portugal traveling to Porto Alegre. He received medical care on May 19, and again on 23. The patient said he was unaware of contact with contaminated people in Portugal.
In Santa Catarina, the suspected case is a 27-year-old woman, living in Dionísio Cerqueira. The patient, who had symptoms on May 24, is awaiting the results of laboratory tests.
Monkeypox resembles human smallpox – eradicated in 1980. The disease occurs mainly in Central and West Africa. Cases usually appear in the surroundings of tropical forests where animals carry the virus.
Between 2018 and 2021, seven cases of monkeypox were reported in the United Kingdom, mostly in people who had traveled to endemic countries. This year, nine cases have been confirmed as of May 18, six of them unrelated to travel, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Other countries such as Portugal and Spain have also confirmed cases of the disease.
Symptoms
Initial symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion. Skin lesions first develop on the face and then spread to other parts of the body, including the genitals. The skin lesions resemble those of chickenpox until they form a crust, which then falls off.
According to Brazil Butantan Institute, monkeypox can be transmitted by contact with droplets exhaled by an infected person (human or animal), by contact with skin lesions caused by the disease, or by contaminated materials, such as clothes and bed sheets. The incubation period for monkeypox lasts usually from six to 13 days, but it can range from five to 21 days. Therefore, infected people need to be isolated and under observation for 21 days.
