Egypt has detected the second monkeypox case in the country in a citizen who had arrived from an Arab country on September 25, the health ministry said in statement on Tuesday.
The ministry said the patient has been quarantined in an isolation hospital and all preventive and medical measures have been taken for him and his contacts according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
Egypt detected its first monkeypox case on September 7 in a citizen who resides in a European country.
“The 42-year-old man has a residence permit from a European country to which he regularly travels," the ministry said at the time.
The WHO had said in August that it is possible to eliminate the monkeypox outbreak through proper public health interventions.
WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the case counts in Canada and some European countries are slowing despite scarce vaccine supplies.
More than 47,600 confirmed cases in 90 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have been reported since early May, Reuters reported, noting that the WHO had declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus. Its clinical presentation resembles that of smallpox, but is less contagious than smallpox and causes less severe illness.
On Monday, the European Commission said it secured over 10,000 treatment courses of tecovirimat to treat monkeypox.
Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: “The declining trend of monkeypox cases in the European Union is encouraging, but it does not mean that the threat has passed or that we can lower our guard.”
“With these treatments, we will help member states meet immediate needs and ensure care for more patients in Europe,” she added.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, about 20,000 cases have been reported in the EU, Iceland and Norway since the virus’s outbreak, but the number of new cases has decreased in recent weeks.
