NICOSIA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Two more confirmed cases of monkeypox have been detected in Cyprus, raising the total to three, the country's Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The patients are two men aged 20 and 30 who arrived recently from abroad.

Earlier this week, a 40-year-old man with a travel history was confirmed positive for monkeypox.

All three are being treated in a special unit at the Nicosia General Hospital. The Health Ministry said their condition is good.

The announcement of the two new cases coincided with the arrival of the first batch of 1,260 doses of monkeypox vaccines earlier on Saturday.

A spokesman of the Health Ministry said that the vaccines will be given to contacts of confirmed patients and to health professionals on a voluntary basis.

The vaccine delivery was brought forward from the end of August as a result of coordinated efforts between Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela and EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, the Health Ministry said.

"Today we successfully received 1,260 doses, amidst a great deal of demand from other countries," director of the pharmaceutical services Elena Panayiotopoulou said upon the arrival of the vaccines.

She said monkeypox vaccines are very limited in Europe and distribution is done according to each country's incidents. Enditem

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