Japan confirmed its first case of monkeypox Monday, with the news coming on the same day that the nation stepped up preparations for an outbreak following the World Health Organization’s declaration over the weekend that the viral disease constitutes a global public health emergency.
The patient is a Tokyo resident in his 30s. In late June, he traveled to Europe, where he had contact with someone who was later diagnosed with monkeypox, before returning to Japan in mid-July, a health ministry official said.
The man first developed a sense of fatigue on July 15. He visited a doctor in Tokyo on Monday, complaining of a fever, rash and headache in addition to the sense of fatigue, the official said. The patient is currently being treated at a hospital in Tokyo and is in a stable condition.