As of 5 July 2022, 5,949 cases of monkeypox have been detected in 33 countries and areas in the European region and reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) respectively.
Of all cases, 5,265 have been confirmed in a laboratory.
As of 7 July, six cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Luxembourg.
The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of these cases are very similar to the cases reported at the European level. None of the cases had to be hospitalised. The six cases are epidemiologically unrelated and have all been exposed to monkeypox abroad.
In Europe, the first known case had an onset of symptoms on 17 April 2022. The majority of cases were aged 31-40 years (42%) and male (99.6%). Of the cases with known HIV status, 40% were HIV positive.
The majority of cases had a rash (96.1%) and systemic symptoms such as fever, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, chills, sore throat, or headache.
No cases were reported to have died.
The National Health Directorate reminds the public that it is important to protect oneself and avoid risky situations in order to limit the spread of the virus.
Protective measures include regular hand washing with soap, avoiding sharing bed linen and towels with infected people or people who have been in contact with infected people, and protecting yourself in case of sexual contact.
