It is a disease transmitted by close contact with infected people, but in order to become infected ‘this contact must be direct, intense and prolonged,’ the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare warned.

The official call urges to take individual measures to protect oneself and protect others in neighborhoods and cities, since the last two cases are community-transmitted contagions, with no history of travels abroad or contact with travelers.

National medical personnel has ruled out 73 suspected patients, the Ministry noted, but tests of those infected globally indicate that sexual contact is the highest means of transmission and accounts for the largest proportion of contagions.

Experts warn to reduce the risk of contracting the disease by paying attention to any lesion or rash without apparent cause, especially if they appear in the mouth, genital area, and anus.

The Ministry of Public Health warned that monkeypox is more likely to be spread in places such as saunas, sex clubs or private and public sex parties, where intimate and often anonymous contacts with multiple partners occur.

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