The Ministry of Health and the communities activated the chickenpox health alert (Monkeypox), a very rare disease caused by a virus endemic to central and western Africa, following the detection of eight probable cases in Madrid that have yet to be confirmed.
These cases still pending genetic tests that are taking place in National Center for Microbiologyas reported by sources from the Ministry of Health, that these first possible cases are progressing well, although the disease may require hospitalization.
The Ministry of Health and communities opened this Tuesday, when these possible compatible cases were detected, a nationwide alert, the Alert Committee was informed of the situation and all key stakeholders were notified to ensure a quick and timely response. and coordinated, informed the Ministry of Health.
The director of the Health Alerts and Emergencies Coordination Center, Fernando Simãoassured on Wednesday that smallpox is not likely to generate a significant transmission in Spain, but warned that care must be taken because it cannot be ruled out either.
“We are working with all possible hypotheses and when we have a little more solid information, it will be explained and the necessary data will be provided,” he told journalists at an event in Valencia.
It is a disease that was transmitted from monkeys to humans and that, in general, between humans has a very low transmission and the outbreaks until a few years ago did not have more than a second generation of transmission.
But in recent outbreaks, up to third and fourth generations of transmission have been detected and it is necessary to identify cases in the United Kingdom and Portugal and see in Spain, if confirmed, how they evolve.
First cases detected in Europe
The first cases in Europe were reported last Sunday by United Kingdomwhich reported four confirmed cases with no history of travel to risk areas.
Two days later, on the 17th, Portugal confirmed 3 cases in Lisbon, 2 pending confirmation and 15 more cases under investigation; After this date, the European Commission’s Early Warning and Response System for communicable diseases communicates this alert, as reported by the Ministry of Health, which is in permanent contact with the European Alert System to monitor this alert globally.
as he comments Jacob Lorenzo Moralesdirector of the Canary Islands Institute of Tropical Diseases SMC Spain“Smallpox is unlikely to generate significant transmission, but we must be vigilant, which is why a health alert has been declared.
“It should be noted thatMost cases resolve favorablya fact that is also happening in the cases detected today”, adds the specialist.
Monkeypox is a rare zoonotic viral disease: the first human cases were identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, and numbers have increased over the past decade in West and Central African countries.
Outside the African continent, cases of human infections have been documented in several countries, such as the USA, UK, Israel and Singapore, always associated with an imported case or contact with imported animals.
chickenpox not considered particularly contagious Person-to-person and, in general, person-to-person transmission is limited.
The initial clinical picture usually includes fever, headache, muscle pain, lymphadenopathy, and fatigue; a few days after the fever starts, a rash develops, often starting on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body.
It is usually a self-limiting illness, and most people recover within a few weeks, although serious illness can occur in some cases.
there is no vaccine
There is no vaccine or specific treatment available. Treatment is symptomatic and supportive, including prevention and treatment of secondary bacterial infections.
On a explanatory text about the diseaseSMC Spain indicates that there are two strains: that of Western Africa it’s from Congo. The first is what was detected in the British cases, the first of which traveled to Nigeria. It is the least lethal version, with a mortality of around 1%. The Congo strain has a mortality of up to 10% and is probably best transmitted.
Lethality varies between 0 and 11% in the general population, but is higher in young children and it is believed that the younger population, not vaccinated against smallpox, may be more susceptible.
