1st case of suspected monkeypox spotted in Finland

The first case of suspected monkeypox viral infection has been spotted in Finland, said the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district (HUS) in a press release on Wednesday.

Syndromes of an orthopoxvirus were detected in an adult male patient.

The authority, however, said that confirmation regarding the suspected monkeypox infection will be made after the sample sequencing will be completed by the end of next week.

HUS believed that the patient might have been infected during a trip to Europe. The patient, who is now under homecare has blisters and high fever.

Earlier, cases monkeypox infection were detected in many European and other countries.

The first case of monkeypox has been confirmed in Denmark on Monday in a person who tested positive after returning from a trip to Gran Canaria in Spain.

Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness that typically begins with flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes and progresses to a widespread rash on the face and body.

Monkeypox reemerged in Nigeria in 2017 after more than 40 years with no reported cases. Since then, there have been more than 450 reported cases in Nigeria and at least eight known exported cases internationally.

Monkeypox is endemic in West and Central Africa, where it is maintained in nature in certain types of small mammals, such as rodents. Sporadic cases are reported, primarily in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said Bausch, also professor of Tropical Medicine at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

The recent clusters of monkeypox infections in the United States and around the world have drawn great concern from scientists. But the risk of monkeypox to the general public is "extremely low" at the moment, and there is "no cause for panic."