Travel warning: Spain suffers outbreak of potentially fatal contagious disease

Travellers heading to Barcelona should be aware of a new outbreak of a dangerous disease that could turn fatal in some cases.

The Spanish authorities have warned everyone about mpox (monkeypox) after half a dozen cases were detected in Barcelona over the past two months, reported The Sun. The Spanish hot spot saw many cases of the contagious disease last summer, and it looks like mpox is making its way back to Barcelona amid the busy summer travel season.

Six cases of mpox detected

The six cases of mpox that have been detected so far are unrelated from each other, making Barcelona's Public Health Agency doubt that there could be community transmission, reported Spanish publication El Periódico. The health organisation also believe that the six people were infected outside Catalunya.

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. Some of its most common symptoms are a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever. Soon after a person gets infected by mpox, the disease produces a rash of fluid-filled blisters, which usually begins on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body.

How is mpox transmitted?

The disease can be transmitted through direct contact with infectious skin or other lesions such as in the mouth or on the genitals. While most patients fully recover from mpox, in some cases, a person could die due to having highly severe symptoms.

Multiple countries reported cases of the virus, starting on May 22, including the UK. The people who have been affected the most by the virus are gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

In an interview with RAC1 radio, Catalan public health surveillance official Jacobo Mendioroz said that the odds of mpox's outbreak being like last summer's "are very remote." He added that four of the six cases had been diagnosed in August.

Over 2,000 people were diagnosed with mpox in the Catalonia region of Spain by the end of September 2022, and 9,700 had received vaccines to combat the infection, as per the Catalan News.

Spain is one of the most popular summer destinations among travellers from the UK. Considering a bank holiday long weekend is coming up in the UK, many people would have planned to take a trip to Spain. Apart from the mpox outbreak, people must also be aware of the heatwave that is still underway across Spain.

The likes of Spain and Italy are currently in the middle of a third heatwave as temperatures are likely to go past 40°C in the coming days.