Poland reports first case of monkeypox

The first case of monkeypox, a disease that has been spreading across the world for several weeks now, has been detected in Poland, the health minister has said. This relatively rare disease occurs mostly in central and west African countries and is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same family of viruses as smallpox. However, it is far less severe and infectious than its deadly relative. Adam Niedzielski said on Friday that Poland had detected 10 suspicious cases and, so far, one had been confirmed as monkeypox. Wojciech Andrusiewicz, the health ministry's spokesman, said that the patient was in isolation in a hospital.