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Switzerland confirms first monkeypox case

The Local (news@thelocal.com)
The Local ([email protected])
Switzerland confirms first monkeypox case
Monkeypox transmission is usually via close contact with infected animals such as rodents and monkeys, and is limited between people. It has only been fatal in rare cases. Photo: Sanjay Kanojia/AFP

Switzerland is among the latest countries to confirm a monkeypox case.

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Switzerland is among the latest countries to confirm a case of monkeypox, identifying one infected person who had reportedly recently travelled abroad.

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The confirmed case comes in the Bern canton and the infected traveller is receiving outpatient treatment and self-isolating, according to a statement published on Saturday. Close contacts have been informed through contact tracing.

More than 80 monkeypox cases have been confirmed in the outbreak across Europe, with the US, Canada, Australia, and Israel also confirming cases.

Monkeypox is most common in rural areas of Central and West Africa, and while human infection is not usually fatal it can manifest itself through fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.

Transmission is usually via close contact with infected animals such as monkeys. The recent outbreak has surprised medical experts as monkeypox was previously thought to rarely spread between humans. Health agencies across Europe have reiterated that the risk to the wider public is thought to be low.

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