More cases of monkeypox have been detected across Spain this weekend. 

Monkeypox is not usually fatal but often manifests itself through fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face. Transmission is usually via close contact with infected animals such as monkeys.

Recent cases suggest that virus can also be transmitted through contact with skin lesions or droplets of bodily fluid from an infected person.

The first infection in the wave of cases observed in Europe was reportedly in the United Kingdom. Cases have since been reported in Portugal, Germany, Canada, the United States, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Australia, Switzerland and France.

In Spain the majority of the suspected cases has been concentrated in Madrid, with the outbreak believed to have begun at a sauna in the capital which has since closed its doors. Some reports in the Spanish media have also suggested a party in the Canary Islands may have further spread the virus.

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But this weekend the Spanish press have reported that cases have now been detected in Andalusia, Basque Country, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia and Aragon, and that Extremadura has reported the first suspected case of a woman being infected. 

At last count, Spanish health authorities confirmed 7 cases nationwide and a further 23 people who tested positive for a “non-human” virus but still awaited further results. A further update is expected at the beginning of next week, and contact tracing is believed to be under way.