
The Health Ministry announced Sunday morning that a second Israeli may have contracted monkeypox.
The potential case involves a person who returned to Israel after a trip to Western Europe and was hospitalized at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.
The hospital said this morning: "Yesterday, a 27-year-old man was hospitalized at Barzilai Medical Center with suspected monkeypox. The man is a sailor on a cargo ship, which docked at the port of Ashdod. He said he was not in contact with other patients. His condition is very mild. Due to the suspicion of monkeypox, tests were sent to the Biological Institute in Ness Ziona and he is being hospitalized in complete isolation. A report was submitted to the Health Ministry."
The Health Ministry is conducting an epidemiological investigation and coordinating with Ichilov Hospital a transfer of clinical specimen for confirmation of the diagnosis at the Biological Institute.
The first case of monkeypox was discovered in Israel on Friday, amid concerns over the spread of the disease around the world.
An Israeli man in his 30s who had returned from a trip to Western Europe arrived at the emergency room at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv with symptoms suspected to be from monkeypox. The patient is in light condition.
It is estimated that at least a few dozen more cases of infection will be detected, but officials in the ministry emphasize that it does not appear to be an epidemic and there is no danger to the public at this stage.
The first Israeli case was discovered hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) called an emergency meeting to discuss the recent outbreak of monkeypox, after more than 100 cases were confirmed or suspected in Europe.
In what Germany described as the largest outbreak in Europe ever, cases have been reported in at least eight European countries – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom - as well as the United States, Canada and Australia.
At the same time, scientists do not expect the outbreak to evolve into a pandemic like COVID-19, according to Reuters.
Monkeypox is usually a mild viral illness, characterized by symptoms of fever as well as a distinctive bumpy rash.
The first European case was confirmed on May 7 in an individual who returned to England from Nigeria. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) on Wednesday confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus infection in an adult male with recent travel to Canada.