A man from Guipúzcoa has become this afternoon the third infected with monkeypox in the Basque Country. As specified by the Department of Health in a statement, the positive has “epidemiological links” with the outbreaks detected outside the autonomous community. The man is isolated at his home and his state of health is not serious, so he is only being monitored on an outpatient basis.
Therefore, there are now three confirmed cases of monkeypox in the Basque Country. This same week the council confirmed the positive of two other men from Alava who are also suffering from the disease with serious symptoms. These two cases would also be related to the outbreaks detected outside the autonomous community.
Specifically, it has transpired that at least one of them participated in Maspalomas Pride in Gran Canaria, which has revealed one of the main sources of contagion.
The efforts of the Ministry are now focused on locating the close contacts of those infected as soon as possible in order to cut possible chains of infection. In a press conference, the Basque Health Minister, Gotzone Sagardui, explained that although a joint purchasing strategy has been agreed in the European Union, vaccines and antivirals will still “take time to arrive.” Hence, at this time the key is to “prevent the virus from spreading.”
