First case of monkey pox infection recorded in Azerbaijan

The first case of smallpox infection in monkeys has been detected in Azerbaijan. This was reported by the country's Ministry of Health on January 18.

"Currently, the patient is hospitalized and receives treatment in inpatient conditions," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

It noted that a 22-year-old citizen of Azerbaijan applied to the hospital with complaints of weakness, fever, rashes in the genital area and muscle pains. Presumably, during a tourist trip to another country, the young man came into contact with infected people.

Test results confirmed infection with monkeypox virus.

"Since the family members in contact with the patient did not have any signs of the disease, they were taken under observation at home by the staff of an outpatient medical facility," the agency added.

Earlier, on January 10, the press service of Rospotrebnadzor reported that the cluster outbreak of smallpox of monkeys, which was caused by the virus clade Ib (mpox clade Ib) in China, in the current emergency situation (emergency situation) in the field of public health in the world does not indicate the formation of new threats to Russia.

Last December, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said that the spread of the severe strain of monkeypox (mpox clade Ib) was impossible on the territory of Russia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on November 29 reported that at least 13 thousand laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox have been registered in the African region since the beginning of 2024. Meanwhile, November 23, it became known about the first case of monkeypox infection in Canada, and November 16, it was reported about the first case of infection in the United States.