Incubation period of Russian citizen who contracted monkeypox is over, disease not spreading in Russia - Rospotrebnadzor

MOSCOW. July 20 (Interfax) - The incubation period for the Russian citizen who contracted monkeypox is over, and the disease has not spread further in Russia, Alexander Gorelov, deputy director for science of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology operating under the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), said.

"We now have one officially registered case, in St. Petersburg, and it was imported from Europe. Two weeks, that is, the incubation period, have now passed. There is currently no further spread," Gorelov told a press conference.

There are no problems with the diagnostics of monkeypox in Russia. Two test systems for diagnosing the disease are now available, and treatment schemes have been developed, he said.

Gorelov encouraged people not to engage in self-treatment and turn to healthcare establishments if there are any suspicions.

On July 12, Rospotrebnadzor said that the first monkeypox case had been detected in Russia in an infected person who had returned from Portugal. He has been isolated and is being treated in an infectious diseases hospital. The disease is mild and there is no threat to the patient's life.

The watchdog emphasized that all of his contacts were timely identified and are under medical supervision. The threat of the disease's spread in Russia has been curbed.

Monkeypox is a rare infectious disease mostly common to remote parts of central and western Africa. Its symptoms include nausea, fever, rash, itching, and muscle pain.