Macao reports 1st monkeypox case

MACAO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) has reported the first case of monkeypox in the city, urging people with high risks to be vaccinated against the disease.

The patient is a 29-year-old Macao resident, male, who has recently traveled to the Hong Kong SAR and Macao's neighboring mainland city of Zhuhai, the Health Bureau of the Macao SAR government said late on Tuesday.

The man is currently in stable condition and receiving treatment in a local hospital, the bureau said.

The bureau warned against a rising risk of transmission of the disease, calling on the public to avoid high-risk sexual behaviors and seek medical treatment as soon as symptoms develop.

Residents who are evaluated by doctors to have high risks of exposure to the disease can be vaccinated for free. Non-residents of this kind can pay to get vaccinated, it added.

Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. Most people fully recover, but some get very sick. The virus can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with someone who is infectious, with contaminated materials, or with infected animals.

The symptoms of monkeypox include an unexplained acute rash and back pain, swollen lymph nodes, acute onset of fever, headaches, muscle pain and body aches, and low energy.