Argentina confirms Latin America's first cases of monkeypox

A section of skin tissue, harvested from a lesion on the skin of a monkey, that had been infected with monkeypox virus, is seen at 50X magnification on day four of rash development in 1968.

Argentina confirmed the first two cases of monkeypox in Latin America on Friday, the Ministry of Health said in statements.

Spain, England and Portugal are the countries with the most cases in the recent outbreak of this usually mild viral disease outside their endemic areas, normally found in parts of West and Central Africa.

"The outcome of the PCR result of the case in question is positive," the Health Ministry said about Argentina's first case, adding that the patient is in good health and people who were in close contact with the individual were under clinical and epidemiological control, with no symptoms so far.

Later in the afternoon, the ministry confirmed another case, of a Spanish citizen who arrived in Argentina on Wednesday and began to develop ulcerous lesions the next day.

"The patient is in good general condition, isolated and receiving symptomatic treatment," the ministry said.

Most of the reported infections around the world so far have not been serious. Many, but not all, the people who have been diagnosed in the current monkeypox outbreak have been men who have sex with men. Symptoms include fever and a rash.

Around 20 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with more than 200 confirmed or suspected infections, mostly in Europe.

Source: Reuters / Reporting by Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires Writing by Steven Grattan Editing by Matthew Lewis and Leslie Adler