Yesterday afternoon, according to the latest briefing to the central government by Antonio Zapatero, deputy minister of health of the Madrid region, 7 of the 8 suspected cases of monkeypox virus infection that appeared in Spain during this week were eventually confirmed positive by nucleic acid. In addition, the remaining 22 suspected monkeypox virus carriers occurred in the Madrid region.
According to the Ministry of Health of the Madrid Region, all monkeypox virus carriers who have been diagnosed positive are currently isolated at home according to medical advice. The Ministry of Health of the Madrid Region is currently rigorously investigating their movements and maintaining real-time follow-up of patients in case their condition deteriorates and requires hospitalization.
In order to prevent the occurrence of extreme panic about the monkeypox epidemic, the Ministry of Health of the Madrid Region said: According to the current situation, the possibility of monkeypox virus transmission by the respiratory system is extremely low, and the current 7 confirmed patients and 22 suspected patients in the Madrid Region have not found the possibility of respiratory infection. According to the European News Agency confirmed to the Ministry of Health of the Madrid Region, all 29 infected and suspected cases were male and all infected with the virus as a result of same-sex intersexual sex. In addition, Carolina Darias, minister of health in the Spanish government, has repeatedly reminded that monkeypox is a virus, not a sexually transmitted disease.
During the European monkeypox outbreak on May 15, the British authorities first disclosed that the country has confirmed 7 monkeypox virus carriers; then the Portuguese Ministry of Health confirmed 5 patients; starting on Tuesday, there were 8 suspected patients in the Madrid region, of which 7 were confirmed. A day later, the Madrid Regional Ministry of Health sounded the alarm and reported the presence of 22 suspected infected people in the region, bringing the cumulative number of infected people plus confirmed cases to 29.
It is understood that the monkeypox virus was first discovered by humans in the Congo of Africa in the 1970s, and the virus is a "close relative" of the smallpox virus. Infection with monkeypox virus initially causes fever, myalgia, swelling of glands, and rashes on the hands and face, similar to chickenpox. Experts say: "Monkeypox rashes evolve and go through different stages. It may look similar to chickenpox or syphilis, which then eventually forms a scab and then falls off,"
Pablo L. Ortiz Romero, chief physician of the Dermatology Department at Madrid's 12 Octubre Hospital, posted a message through his personal Twitter platform and uploaded a picture of the rash of the confirmed case. According to him, in the Dermatology Department of 12 de Octubre Hospital alone, three cases of suspected monkeypox virus infection were received on the morning of May 18. Dr. Romero said bluntly: It's horrible, it's horrible.