Lisbon, Jul 13 (IANS): The Portuguese Directorate-General for Health (DGS) published a rule, recommending monkeypox vaccination for those who had close contact with the confirmed cases of the disease.

"The vaccine is recommended for people identified as close contacts of reported cases, as it can prevent or attenuate the clinical manifestations of human infection with monkeypox virus," said the DGS in a statement on Tuesday.

"The vaccination must be carried out in the first four days after the last close contact with a case, and this period can go up to 14 days if the person remains without symptoms," it added.

The Portuguese health authorities reinforce the importance of identifying people who have been in close contact with diagnosed cases "with maximum celerity so that vaccination can be guided".

The southern European country had confirmed 473 monkeypox cases by Thursday. It has received 2,700 doses of the monkeypox vaccines, according to the DGS.

Monkeypox is common in wild animals like rodents and primates, and humans can also get infected with the virus, Xinhua news agency reported.

Symptoms include skin rashes, fever, headache, muscle ache, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. The rash eventually forms a scab, which later falls off, indicating that the person is no longer infectious.