A 4-year-old girl in Pforzheim, Germany, has been infected with monkeypox, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control, confirming the country’s first case of the virus in a child.
According to the RKI, the child, who lives in a household with two infected adults, is currently asymptomatic, according to the dpa news agency.
As a precaution, she was examined by a doctor, and a swab of her throat was taken for testing purposes.
The child had no contact with anyone outside of her family.
The RKI was made aware of the first infections among teenagers aged 15 to 17 last week.
In less than three months since the first confirmed case of monkeypox in Germany, the RKI has received reports of 2,916 cases.
Almost all of the cases involve men, with only seven involving women.
“According to current knowledge, close contact is required for transmission of the pathogen,” the RKI said.
Transmission occurs primarily during sexual activity.
“As far as is known, most of those affected do not fall seriously ill,” the RKI wrote.
According to the World Health Organization, only a few children have been infected with monkeypox in the current global outbreak.
