277 confirmed cases in France, the first in a woman

France had 277 confirmed cases of infection with the monkeypox virus on Tuesday, health authorities announced, adding that one of them concerned a woman for the first time in the country.

“As of 2 p.m. on June 21, 2022, 277 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported in France,” the French public health agency said in a statement. The latest assessment, five days earlier, reported 183 cases. As before, no patient died.

Among the latest cases recorded, “a first female case has been confirmed, the mode of transmission of which is under investigation, and all the others are men”, specifies Public Health France.

A skin rash

Until now, the current outbreak of monkeypox, which is currently affecting some forty countries, has in fact mainly concerned men who have had homosexual relations, even if it is not limited to the latter.

Monkeypox, which the World Health Organization (WHO) plans to make a global emergency, first results in a high fever and quickly progresses to a rash. The disease, which until then was contained in about ten African countries, usually heals spontaneously after two to three weeks.

Of all the cases observed in France, there are “195 in Ile-de-France, 16 in Occitania, 14 in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 16 in New Aquitaine, 12 in Hauts-de-France, 12 in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, 6 in Normandy, 1 in Centre-Val de Loire, 1 in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, 1 in Grand-Est and 3 in Brittany”, detailed the health authorities.