MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Two new mpox cases have been confirmed in Russian tourists who arrived from Thailand, St. Petersburg’s regional directorate of Russia’s consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.

"Rospotrebnadzor’s regional directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region informs that two mpox cases have been confirmed in citizens who returned from vacationing in Thailand," it said.

The two have been taken to an infectious diseases hospital, it said adding that they are in satisfactory condition.

According to Rospotrebnadzor, their contacts have been placed under medical supervision.

"The infection’s propagation has been prevented," it said but warned that risks of mpox imports still exist.

Earlier, three mpox cases were confirmed in the Moscow Region. One of the patients has already been discharged from hospital, the other two continue receiving treatment.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare viral disease endemic to remote regions near tropical forests in Central and Western Africa. The first case of an animal transmitting the disease to humans was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. According to the WHO, this virus is usually transmitted to humans by wild animals, such as rodents and primates, while its secondary spread among humans is limited. Usually the lethality coefficient during mpox outbreaks ranges from 1% to 10% with the majority of fatalities affecting younger age groups.

Mpox is most often accompanied by a skin rash or mucosal lesions, which can last from two to four weeks. Additional symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.