SANTIAGO, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Health on Friday confirmed Chile's first case of monkeypox in a young adult who had been to Europe.

The patient, a resident of Chile's Metropolitan region, came down with a sudden vesicular rash accompanied by swelling lymph nodes, the ministry said in a statement.

The patient was in good health and without complications, it added.

Health officials recommended "people who have traveled abroad and have had close skin-to-skin contact, including sexual intercourse, and have a sudden onset of inexplicable skin lesions, with one or more symptoms such as fever, swollen glands, muscle or back pain, and weakness," should consult a doctor.

"Monkey pox is a zoonotic viral disease" caused by viruses transmitted from animals to people, which belongs to the same family as the smallpox virus eradicated in 1980 and produces similar symptoms, "but less severe," according to the ministry. Enditem

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