Brazil reports suspected mpox case at Sao Paulo airport

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A suspected case of mpox has been reported at Brazil's main international airport near Sao Paulo, health sanitary agency Anvisa said on Monday.

Anvisa said its office in the Guarulhos airport was alerted on Sunday after "the identification of a passenger with signs and symptoms compatible with mpox," adding the person was sent later to a specialized hospital.

According to Anvisa, the passenger had arrived at the airport on Aug. 14 and had since been in an area for people waiting to request refugee status.

The agency did not state where the passenger had traveled from or their home country.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years as a new variant of the virus spread rapidly in Africa.

Brazil's health ministry said more than 700 confirmed or probable cases of mpox have been reported in the country this year, although none of them are of the new variant.

Anvisa, which said no other suspected cases were found, did not say whether the potential case could be of the new variant. — Reuters