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ARCHIVED - First suspected case of monkeypox detected in Alicante
The regional Ministry of Health has confirmed a further suspected case in Valencia city on the Costa Blanca
The first case of suspected monkeypox has been detected in Alicante province, one of two in the Valencia region after a third in Castellon was ruled out on Tuesday May 24.
There are currently a total of 59 confirmed cases of non-human smallpox in Spain, of which 20 have been confirmed as monkeypox after partial sequencing of the virus whilst the rest are awaiting confirmation.
Most of the infections have been linked to a sauna in Madrid popular with gay men and a pride festival held recently in Gran Canaria, which attracted around 80,000 people from the UK and the rest of Europe.
Spain's Ministry of Health has called a meeting of the Alerts Committee of the Centre for the Coordination of Alerts and Health Emergencies (CCAES) on Thursday May 26, in which regional health representatives will participate to coordinate a joint action protocol in light of the rising number of cases.
A health alert has been activated, although the health authorities stress that the risk of a new epidemic is very low.
Margarita del Val of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) this week assured that the virus is a "reasonably benign" ailment but causes "very large and striking lesions" on the skin.
"What we have to do is to locate the origin, the transmission and stop it as soon as possible," Del Val told reporters before a speech at the first International Summit on Pandemic Management, organised by the Valencia City Council.
After clarifying that whilst the virus is called monkeypox "it is transmitted by rodents", the researcher pointed out that there have been infrequent cases for a long time amongst people who kept rats as pets, "but it seems that it can also be transmitted sexually", although it is more difficult to detect.
However, European spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tarik Jasarevic, admitted the current situation is "worrying", as "it does not resemble the typical patterns we have seen before with monkeypox". At the same time, experts insist that close physical contact is required to spread the virus.
Last week, the Valencia region's health ministry sent an alert to all hospitals, public health centres and AIDS Prevention and Information Centres explaining in detail what monkeypox is, what causes it, and how to detect it.
To date, the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) has received samples belonging to 100 suspected cases of monkeypox.
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