MEXICO CITY

Mexico confirmed the first reported monkeypox case on Saturday.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Twitter that a 50-year-old man, a permanent resident of New York City, was probably infected in the Netherlands. The man is currently being treated in Mexico City, where he is reportedly stable and in isolation.

On Wednesday, Mexico’s National Committee for Epidemiological Surveillance shared a series of preemptive measures, quoting that the presence of the virus in the country was “inevitable.”

Lopez-Gatell also assured that the emergent virus has a slight infection rate and the probability of a full-blown epidemic is low.

“Smallpox is transmitted from person to person by direct contact. It is not spread by air, water, or food. The transmission efficiency is low, so there are usually isolated cases or small outbreaks, not generalized epidemics,” he said.

According to the World Health Organization, 244 cases have been reported worldwide till May 23, from which 160 were confirmed and 184 under suspicion. The WHO first reported a series of cases among 12 member states on May 13.

The virus is now present in over 20 countries, with the European region being the most affected. In the Americas and the Caribbean, monkeypox cases have been confirmed in the US, Canada, and Argentina.