The Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid, Fátima Matute, has requested that controls be strengthened at Barajas airport to prevent the entry of new variants of MPOX, known as monkeypox, following the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of a new international public health emergency.
In statements sent to journalists, Matute highlighted the “possible arrival” of this new variant of Monkeypox through the entry into Spain of “ infected people from the African continent or who have had close contact with cases infected with the variant detected during the MPOX epidemic in Africa.”
This is why they have asked the Spanish government to strengthen border controls, since foreign health services are “their competence”.
He also assured that Madrid’s public health “is prepared and is increasing its vigilance to detect new cases early” in case “a change in the epidemiological profile of the disease occurs in order to act immediately.”
He recalled that in 2022 the first outbreak of this disease was detected in the Community of Madrid and that, since then, citizens who meet the criteria for this prevention measure have been vaccinated.
Vaccine “effective” as a control measure
“The vaccine, which has proven effective as a control measure for MPOX outbreaks, is primarily indicated for people in high-risk intimate relationships (multiple partners) and for close contacts of people who have contracted the disease,” he noted.
This new global emergency due to MPOX places Spain as the European country with the most confirmed cases, with a total of 8,104, of which 264 have been reported this year, representing a third of all new positive cases in Europe in 2024.
Rash, fever, sore throat, headache or backache, lack of energy, and swollen lymph nodes are the most common symptoms, which usually begin a week after exposure but can occur after 1 to 21 days and usually last 2 to 4 weeks.
