Japan detects first monkeypox case

TOKYO: Japan has detected its first case of the monkeypox virus in Tokyo, the capital’s governor said on Monday.

The infected person is a man in his 30s who returned from Europe and is currently in a hospital, Yuriko Koike told reporters.

“He has a rash, fever, headache and fatigue. But at the moment, he is in a stable condition,” a Health Ministry official told a separate media briefing.

The patient, a Tokyo resident, went to Europe late last month and had contact with a person who was later confirmed monkeypox-positive before returning to Japan in mid-July, the official said.

The official did not elaborate on the nature of the contact and declined to specify the Tokyo resident’s nationality.

The World Health Organization said on Saturday the rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency.

So far this year there have been more than 16,000 monkeypox cases in more than 75 countries, and five deaths in Africa.

The virus spreads via close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions.