During an interview with a radio station on Monday, the National Health Institute Director Victor Suarez confirmed that Peru is experiencing "community transmission" of the monkeypox virus, with 203 cases detected so far.
RELATED:
Peru: Truckers and Farmers Demand Attention to Their Demands
Currently, monkeypox cases are mostly concentrated in Lima and its neighboring province of Callao. Authorities have set up specialized sites to identify cases and a laboratory where test results are available within 24 hours.
Most of those infected patients are men, between about 32 and 37 years old, and all of them are in stable condition, Health Minister Jorge Lopez said, adding that Peru is heeding the international alert issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Until Monday, the Health Ministry (MINSA) had registered 203 confirmed cases of monkeypox in eight regions, where the authorities must establish contingency plans to deal with a possible increase in infections.
So far, the regions of Amazonas, Piura, and Junin are already carrying out epidemiological actions in this regard, as reported by local outlet RPP.
Peru's first case of monkeypox was confirmed on June 26 in a foreign man who lives in Lima's Pueblo Libre district and had contact with other people coming from abroad. This first case did not require hospitalization and was kept at his home, but the following infections were confirmed in his closest environment.
Currently MINSA carries out information campaigns on hygiene measures to prevent the spread of this disease and has insisted on the isolation of confirmed cases.