Serbia reports first mpox case in Kosovo region

Belgrade, Dec 27 (IANS) A 30-year-old man recently returning from West Africa was confirmed as a new case of mpox in Serbia on Friday. He is also the first confirmed mpox case in the Kosovo region, according to the regional Institute of Public Health.

The institute stated that the patient was hospitalised on December 24, with symptoms including fever, chills, and skin lesions on his face and hands. His condition is stable.

Authorities have traced all close contacts of the patient and issued infection control guidelines to prevent potential transmission, the institute said.

Serbia confirmed its first mpox case in June 2022. The World Health Organization continues to classify the mpox outbreak as a public health emergency, Xinhua news agency reported.

In August, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said Europe will probably see more imported cases of mpox but the likelihood of sustained transmission in Europe remained very low.

According to the ECDC's latest surveillance and monitoring report released this month, Germany on December 15 reported a cluster of four mpox cases, while Belgium on December 18 reported its first confirmed mpox case due to mpox virus clade Ib in an individual returning from one of the countries affected by the epidemic in Africa.

Mpox is an infectious disease that can lead to symptoms such as a painful rash, swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, and fatigue. While most people recover completely, some may experience severe illness.

Mpox is caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), an enveloped, double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the Poxviridae family. This family also includes variola, cowpox, vaccinia, and other viruses. The virus exists in two main clades: clade I (with subclades Ia and Ib) and clade II (with subclades IIa and IIb). Mpox primarily spreads from person to person through close contact with an infected individual, including within households. Close contact can involve skin-to-skin interactions (such as touching or sexual activity), as well as mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-skin contact (such as kissing). It can also spread through face-to-face interactions, where breathing or talking close to one another may generate infectious respiratory particles.