Belgium becomes first country to make 21-day quarantine mandatory for monkeypox patients

Brussels, May 23: Belgium has become the first country to make a 21-day quarantine compulsory for monkeypox patients after four cases of the disease were reported last week.

Taking to Twitter, the microbiologist Emmanuel Andre, who is in charge of the National Reference Lab for COVID-19 in Belgium, yesterday said that the fourth case has been confirmed in the country.

Monkeypox is a disease in the same family as smallpox and symptoms include a distinct bumpy rash, a fever, sore muscles, and a headache.

Monkeypox is less deadly than smallpox, with a mortality rate below four percent, but experts are worried about the unusual spread of the disease beyond Africa where it usually circulates.