A total of 37 cases of infection with the monkeypox virus have been detected in Portugal since June in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, announced the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).
“After three months with no new cases of mpox reported in Portugal, 37 new cases have been confirmed since June 19, 2023”, says a statement published on the DGS website about this outbreak of the disease formerly known as monkeypox.
According to the data now released, 12 cases of infection were confirmed between 12 and 30 June and the remaining 25 cases between 1 and 20 July.
These new cases refer to men residing in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, most aged between 20 and 40 years, the directorate-general also recommends compliance with the previously defined guidelines to interrupt transmission chains and for the protection of the most vulnerable.
In May, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the international public health emergency for the disease mpox, the highest level of alert that had been in effect since July 2022.
The latest DGS data, made available on June 30, indicated that Portugal had identified 965 confirmed cases of Mpox since May 3, 2022, when the presence of the virus was detected in Portugal, also registering one death.
According to the WHO, between 1 January 2022 and 11 July, a total of 88,288 cases in 112 countries and territories and 149 deaths were reported to the organization.
The most common symptoms of the infection are fever, severe headache, muscle pain, back pain, fatigue, enlarged lymph nodes with the progressive appearance of rashes that affect the skin and mucous membranes.
The virus is transmitted through close physical contact, namely with injuries or body fluids, or through contact with contaminated material, such as sheets, towels or personal utensils.
