Three new cases of monkeypox detected in UAE

A total of four cases have been confirmed so far

A man's hands are covered in a rash caused by the monkeypox virus that swept through the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1996 to 1997. Reuters

An image taken during an outbreak of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1996 and 1997 shows the arms and torso of a patient with skin lesions due to monkeypox. Reuters

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows a monkeypox virion, obtained from a sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. AP

Images issued by the UK Health Security Agency show the stages of monkeypox. UK Health Security Agency

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed a single case of monkeypox in an adult male who had recently travelled to Canada. EPA

Roman Woelfel, head of the Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces in Munich, gets to work after Germany detected its first case of monkeypox. Reuters

The UAE has recorded three new cases of monkeypox, the country's health ministry said.

The additional cases bring the country's tally of confirmed monkeypox infections to four.

The Emirates confirmed its first infection, in a 29-year-old woman from a West African country, about a week ago.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention has not revealed any details about the latest patients. However, it said it is taking “all necessary measures, including investigation, examination of contacts and monitoring their health”.

It urged all citizens and residents to follow “appropriate preventive measures and careful precautions while travelling and to stay safer in large crowds and avoid risky behaviours” to protect themselves against the virus.

“Monkeypox is a viral disease but usually a self-limited one, if compared to Covid-19,” said the ministry.

“It is mostly transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, including bodily fluids and respiratory droplets, or with material contaminated with the virus. It can also be passed to the baby in the womb.”

“All health authorities in the country are committed to a unified national medical guide for dealing with monkeypox-infected people and their contacts,” said the ministry.

“This includes complete isolation of the infected in hospitals until they recover, while quarantining their close contacts for a period of no less than 21 days at home and monitoring their health condition, and enforcing their compliance with home isolation.”

The ministry said people should obtain information from official sources and refrain from spreading rumours and false information.

Symptoms

Most monkeypox patients experience fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands. The lesions can spread to other parts of the body.

In general, recovery takes about two to four weeks without the need to be admitted to hospital. However, monkeypox can be fatal in up to 6 per cent of cases and is believed to be more severe in children.

Smallpox vaccines are effective against monkeypox and antiviral drugs are also being developed.

The World Health Organisation estimates there are thousands of monkeypox infections in about a dozen African countries every year.

Most are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which reports about 6,000 cases annually, and Nigeria, with about 3,000 cases a year.