Japan's first monkeypox infection
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced on the 25th that a person infected with the infectious disease "monkeypox" similar to smallpox was confirmed in Tokyo. This is the first time that an infected person has been confirmed in Japan.
According to the ministry, the infected person is a man in his thirties who lives in Tokyo. He has fever, headache, rash and fatigue and is admitted to a hospital in Tokyo.
The man traveled to Europe in late June and returned in mid-July. He felt tired from the 15th, and visited a medical institution in Tokyo on the 25th. An examination at the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Safety Research Center revealed an infection. During his stay in Europe, he reportedly had contact with a person who was later diagnosed with monkeypox.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and others, monkeypox transmission from person to person is caused by contact with the patient's rash or body fluids. The incubation period is about 7 to 14 days, and after symptoms such as fever, headache, and swollen lymph nodes continue for 1 to 5 days, a rash appears. It takes 2 to 4 weeks after the onset to heal.
Many recover spontaneously, but it is said that children and others may become severely ill. There is a report that the case fatality rate in Africa, where the medical system is inadequate, is about 3 to 6%, but no deaths outside Africa have been reported.
Monkeypox has spread mainly in parts of Africa, but this year it has surged to more than 16,000 people in 75 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom and Spain. On the 23rd, WHO declared "a public health emergency of international concern".
