After Britain, dozens of cases of “monkeypox” were detected in Spain and Portugal

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it wants to highlight, in cooperation with Britain, the monkeypox infections that have been discovered in this country since the beginning of May, especially in the gay community.

On Wednesday evening, the local health authorities in the Madrid region announced the discovery of 23 suspected cases of monkeypox, an endemic disease in West Africa.

Monkeypox is a rare disease that usually presents with fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph glands, and a rash on the hands and face.

“In general, transmission (of the disease) occurs through the respiratory system, but these 23 presumed cases of infection indicate that transmission occurred through the mucous membranes during sexual relations,” the authorities’ statement on Twitter said.

As for Portugal, there are “more than 20 suspected monkeypox infections (…) in the Lisbon region (west), five of which have been confirmed,” as the health authorities in Portugal announced in a statement.