The European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimates a total of 219 cases.
Photo: manners.

France counts 16 “confirmed” cases of monkeypox virus infectionHealth authorities report today.

Of the 16 cases recorded as of Saturday, 12 detected in the Paris regionAFP news agency reports.

Minister of Health, Brigitte Bourguignonhave shown that authorities do not expect a “wave” of disease, and that countries have sufficient vaccine reserves for contact cases.

The Directorate General of Health indicated on Friday that the first two people, thought to be at risk for monkeypox, were vaccinated in Paris.

Monkeypox is a disease that is considered rare, and has been known to humans since the 1970s.

The UK was the first country to report a case of monkeypox on May 7. and since then nearly 200 have been reported to UN health agencies from countries where the virus is not endemic.

The European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimates a total of 219 cases.

Monkeypox is endemic to eleven countries in east and central Africa, but in recent weeks there have been cases in more than 20 other countriesincluding the United States, Australia, United Arab Emirates, European Union, and Argentina.

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that cases registered in recent weeks outside countries where the disease normally circulates could be the “tip of the iceberg”, though He asked not to “panic” and assured that, if adequate measures were put in place, “perhaps” it could be overcome.

Monkeypox belongs to the same family as smallpox, which killed millions of people every year before being eradicated in 1980.

However, monkeypox is much milder and has a mortality rate of between 3 and 6%, depending on the case, most of which resolve within 3 or 4 weeks.

Initial symptoms include fever, headache, and muscle pain in the back, followed by a rash, lesions, pustules, and finally a scab.