About three weeks after the first detection of monkey pox in Germany, the number of infections recorded at the nation’s disease control body the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has risen to 113.

“All cases in Germany reported to the RKI are men,’’ a spokeswoman for the institute said on Wednesday in response to a query. 

On Tuesday, the RKI was aware of 80 cases nationwide.

A large proportion of the reported infections were in the capital, as of Tuesday evening, the Berlin health administration reported 72 people affected, 13 of whom were being treated in hospital.

According to previous data, Germany seemed to be one of the European countries with a particularly high number of cases of the virus, along with countries such as Britain, Spain and Portugal.

Monkey pox is considered a less severe disease compared to smallpox, which has been eradicated since 1980.

The pathogen is usually transmitted from person to person through close physical contact.

Experts had warned of a further spread of the virus, for example at upcoming festivals and parties.

According to information from the World Health Organisation’s regional office for Europe last week, investigations into the cases so far suggest that the outbreak in the WHO region of Europe was already under way in mid-April.

It is the largest and most geographically widespread monkeypox outbreak ever reported outside the endemic areas in West and Central Africa. 

(dpa/NAN)