Thousands of cases of monkeypox have been recorded in one city in South America.
Local reports say 1,266 people have had the disease in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro since 2022, according to the Municipal Health Department. A total of 3,800 reports of transmission have been made with seven new confirmed cases in August this year.
Monkeypox can cause sore rashes which can begin on the face or genitals and then spread to other parts of the body. Before healing the rashes can scab over and be painful, while a person suffering from the virus can feel ill with a fever, chills, body aches and tiredness. They may also experience horrible bleeding from the rectum, as well as swollen lymph nodes.
Despite over 1,200 cases, Rio is still second to Sao Paolo in terms of confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation declared the ongoing surge of cases in Africa a global emergency. It followed scientists detecting a new version of the disease in Congo that they think could be spreading more easily in May.
On August 30, WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the surge in cases can end in the next six months if the governments of different countries work together on the issue.
