Monkeypox: Portugal reports five cases in men

Lisbon: Portuguese officials confirmed five cases of the monkeypox—the viral infection—rarely found in Europe, has also been reported in Spain and Britain.  

As per authorities, all the Portuguese cases involve men, most of them young. They have skin lesions and were reported to be in stable condition. 

Britain announced two more new cases, marking an unusual outbreak in Europe. 

The officials did not say if the men had a history of travel to Africa or any links with recent cases in Britain or elsewhere.

Portugal's General Directorate for Health added it was investigating another 15 suspected cases and that all were identified this month around the capital Lisbon.

The first US case of the recent global Monkeypox outbreak has been detected in the state of Massachusetts.

The announcement comes shortly after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) said they were monitoring up to six potential cases of the virus in Americans who travelled on a plane that included another infected passenger. 

The individuals sat within a three-row radius of a British man on a flight from Nigeria to the UK on May 4. 

He later became the UK's first confirmed case.

Monkeypox is a relative of smallpox, a disease that was eradicated in 1980, but is less transmissible, causes milder symptoms and is less deadly. 

The illness typically lasts for two to four weeks and symptoms can appear anywhere from five to 21 days after infection.

This latter symptom is typically what helps doctors distinguish monkeypox from chickenpox or smallpox, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).