Jeddah — The Ministry of Health assured its public on Friday that no cases of monkeypox were detected in Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Abdullah Asiri, the deputy minister for preventive health, said that the Kingdom’s health sector could monitor and discover suspected cases of “monkeypox” and combat infection.
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He said: “There is a standard definition of suspected cases and how to confirm them, and monitoring and diagnosis methods are available in the laboratories of the Kingdom.”
“Until now, transmission cases between humans are minimal, and therefore the possibility of any outbreaks occurring from it, even in countries that have detected cases, are very low,” he added.
The World Health Organization has confirmed 80 cases of monkeypox in 11 countries. It warned that it is likely that more cases will be reported.
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Without naming any countries, the WHO says that another 50 suspected cases are being investigated.
Infections in Italy, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal, were the first reported European case. The US, Canada, and the UK have also reported Monkeypox infections.
Monkeypox is seen mainly in remote parts of Central and West Africa.
UK’s National Health Service reports it as a rare mild viral infection. Most people recover in a few weeks.
