Health ministry statistics show that the number of mpox patients in Japan has crept up this month, in contrast with many other countries where the number of cases has recently declined.
As of Tuesday, Japan had reported 80 cases of mpox, an infectious viral disease that is primarily transmitted through men having sex with men. But anyone who has close contact with an infected person is also at risk.
All of the patients are men in their 20s to 60s, but the age range with the highest number of infections were those in their 30s and 40s.