Brazil health officials await test results to confirm first monkeypox case

By: 3 years ago

Test tube labelled “Monkeypox virus positive” are seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022. REUTERS

SAO PAULO — Health officials in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo said Wednesday that it is still awaiting test results to confirm the country’s first case of monkeypox.

The patient, a 41-year-old man, recently traveled to Spain and Portugal, the city’s health secretariat said in a statement. He started presenting symptoms on May 28 and is in isolation in a hospital in the city.

Sao Paulo officials denied an earlier report by local news channel Globo News saying the man’s case had been confirmed.

Most of the infections detected globally so far have not been severe. Symptoms include fever and a distinctive bumpy rash.

Officials are also monitoring another suspected monkeypox case in Sao Paulo in a 26-year-old woman who was hospitalized but is feeling well. Brazil’s Health Ministry said on Monday that seven cases were under investigation around the country.

More than 1,000 monkeypox cases in 29 countries have been reported to the World Health Organization in the current outbreak. No deaths have been reported.