This Country Becomes First In The World To Introduce Compulsory Monkeypox Quarantine

The Belgian health authorities took this decision on Friday, Saudi Gazette reported citing Belgian media.

Monkeypox is a disease in the same family as smallpox and symptoms include a distinct bumpy rash, a fever, sore muscles and a headache. Monkeypox is less deadly than smallpox, with a mortality rate below 4 per cent, but experts are worried about the unusual spread of the disease beyond Africa where it usually circulates.

Taking to Twitter, the microbiologist Emmanuel Andre, who is in charge of the National Reference lab for COVID-19 in Belgium on Saturday, said that the fourth case has been confirmed in the country.

“This patient is being treated in Wallonia and is linked to the Antwerp event in which two other people were infected,” he tweeted referring to a festival in the port city held in May.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the World Health Organization reported that there were a total of 92 confirmed cases in 12 different countries, with 28 suspected cases under investigation. Cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the UK, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, the US, Canada and Australia, as reported by Saudi Gazette.

Monkeypox is an infectious disease that is usually mild, and is endemic in parts of west and central Africa. It is spread by close contact, so it can be relatively easily contained through such measures as self-isolation and hygiene. Monkeypox is common in wild animals like rodents and primates, but humans can also get infected with the virus.

Symptoms include skin rashes, fever, headache, muscle ache, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. The rash eventually forms a scab, which later falls off, indicating that the person is no longer infectious.

*With inputs from agencies