US monitoring 6 for monkeypox, says report; Spain’s tally at 14

Top US medical body, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is monitoring six people in the United States for possible monkeypox infection after they sat near a traveller who had symptoms of the virus while on a flight from Nigeria to the United Kingdom in early May, a report by American news network CNN said on Friday.

The current spread of the virus across the world has come as a surprise as the occurrence in humans has been very rare. The first case of this year in the US was seen in a Massachusetts man who had recently travelled to Canada. The virus, which mostly is found in young men, originates in wild animals like rodents and primates, and occasionally jumps to humans

Here are the latest updates:

>In the United States, authorities in New York City are investigating a possible case of Monkeypox. “The patient is being cared for at NYC Health + Hospitals / Bellevue. All the appropriate isolation protocols are being followed,” the NYC health department said in a statement on Thursday, adding the public health lab will conduct preliminary tests, which — if positive — will be sent to the CDC for confirmatory testing.

>Canada has confirmed the first two cases of the virus after authorities in Quebec province said they were investigating 17 suspected cases, a report by news agency Reuters said.

> Australia has also reported a probable case of the monkeypox in a traveller. The confirmatory testing of the 40-year-old man is underway. He developed a mild illness several days after arriving back in Sydney with symptoms clinically compatible with monkeypox, according to the New South Wales state health department.

> The French health ministry said on Thursday that a suspected case was detected in the Paris/Ile-de-France region.

> The total number of confirmed cases of Monkeypox in Spain has climbed to 14 after 7 more people were infected with the virus, news agency AP reported. All patients so far are men.