Argentine authorities have quarantined a cargo ship on the Parana River suspected of carrying a person with MPOX on board, the government said Tuesday, as global public health officials remain on alert for a new, faster-spreading variant of the virus.
The quarantined Liberian-flagged ship sailed from Santos, Brazil – also a major commodities hub – to pick up a cargo of soybeans, according to the health ministry and industry body the Argentine Naval League.
A ship near the inland Argentine grain port of Rosario notified authorities that “one of its Indian crew members presented with cyst-like skin lesions, mainly on the chest and face,” the ministry said in a statement. The person has been isolated from the rest of the crew, the statement said.
About 13 countries have reported cases of mpox caused by other strains across the Americas this year, according to WHO data as of last week. Argentina had previously recorded eight cases, though none of them were of the clade 1b strain. (uh/rs)
