Electron micrograph of monkeypox virus, colored. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), monkeypox is transmitted from person to person through close physical contact. Photo: Andrea Männel/Andrea Schnartendorff/RKI/dpa
From BZ/dpa
The first monkeypox case has been confirmed in Brandenburg. The Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that a man from Potsdam had tested positive.
The result was confirmed in the Robert Koch Institute’s smallpox virus consultant laboratory. According to the information, the person concerned is a 40-year-old from Potsdam.
The risk of infection for the general population is considered to be low for monkeypox, said Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens). It was expected that cases would also occur in Brandenburg. Unlike Corona, monkeypox viruses only spread with very close contact. People who may have had contact with infected people are advised to pay close attention to symptoms and to reduce contacts as a precaution.
The Potsdam health department immediately contacted the person concerned and checked possible contacts, said Mayor Mike Schubert (SPD). The infected person and identified contacts are currently in domestic isolation.
Monkeypox is a rare viral disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals, most likely rodents. Transmission from person to person is rare, but possible, especially in very close contact. Since the beginning of May, the virus has been spreading from person to person in Europe for the first time without an epidemiological connection to West or Central Africa. The first symptoms are fever, headache, muscle and back pain and swollen lymph nodes. Extensive skin rash is possible.
