Bujumbura, July 26 (IANS): Three cases of monkeypox have been reported in three health facilities in western Burundi, according to Burundian health authorities.

"On July 22, 2024, three new alerts of suspected monkeypox virus cases were reported to the health ministry," said Lydwine Baradahana, minister of public health and fight against AIDS, in a press release issued in Bujumbura, the economic hub of Burundi, Thursday evening.

"They are clinically characterized by a fever, joint pains, and generalized skin eruptions," she said, adding that a multidisciplinary team made up of the urgency operations center from the health ministry, the National Reference Laboratory and the World Health Organization was deployed to the ground to conduct investigations and do the necessary screening.

"After laboratory analyses, the three samples turned positive for the monkeypox virus," said Baradahana, Xinhua news agency reported.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that affects both humans and animals. Symptoms include an unexplained acute rash and back pain, swollen lymph nodes, acute onset of fever, headache, muscle and body aches, and low energy.

"The disease is highly contagious and causes death if it is not treated quickly. That's why we recommend hygiene measures like handwashing and avoiding contact with people having symptoms of the monkeypox virus," said Baradahana.

She reassured the population that adequate measures have been taken, noting that the three cases are under treatment in health facilities and that contact cases are being closely monitored.

On July 16, a child with symptoms similar to monkeypox died at a health facility in Mugamba, in Burundi's southern province of Bururi. The deadly disease has been reported in neighboring eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.