Authorities in Israel and Switzerland have detected the first monkeypox cases in their respective countries as the virus spreads across.
A spokesman for Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital said a 30-year-old man, who recently returned from western Europe with monkeypox symptoms, had tested positive for the virus.
Earlier the country’s health ministry said the man had been exposed to a person with monkeypox abroad. A clinical sample was taken for testing as he remained in isolation at Ichilov in mild condition.
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Meanwhile, in Switzerland, the country’s first case of monkeypox was detected in a person living in the canton of Bern.
The patient had been treated as a walk-in case and was now isolating at home and his contacts were informed, according to Swiss health officials.
“As far as we know, the person concerned was exposed to the virus abroad,” a statement by Berne’s health authority said.
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Switzerland has joined several western countries including Britain, Germany, Spain, Sweden the United Kingdom and the United States in reporting cases.
The symptoms of the disease include fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.
