ANKARA, July 30 (KUNA) -- Turkiye announced on Thursday its first case of monkeypox for a 37-year-old patient.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a twitter post that the patient, also HIV positive, was in quarantine.
He pointed out that medical teams were now tracing those who came in contact with the case.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
It is caused by the monkeypox virus which belongs to the orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. There are two clades of monkeypox virus: the West African clade and the Congo Basin (Central African) clade.
Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding. The incubation period of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days. (end) akw.gta