Georgia is expected to receive special PCR tests which will detect the monkeypox virus which has been found in more than 12 countries outside Africa, head of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Amiran Gamkrelidze said on Tuesday,

He suggested that the tests will arrive in Georgia next week.

"Laboratory diagnosis can still be made by genome sequencing, which takes several days," said Gamkrelidze.

The virus has not been detected in Georgia so far.

Vaccination against smallpox, which is also effective against monkeypox, has not been made in Georgia since the 1990s as smallpox virus was eradicated.

Since 13 May 2022, cases of monkeypox have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from 12 Member States that were not endemic for monkeypox virus, across three WHO regions.

Based on currently available information, cases have mainly but not exclusively been identified amongst men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking care in primary care and sexual health clinics, WHO said last week.

More than 100 cases of the virus - which causes a rash and a fever - have been confirmed in Europe, the Americas and Australia.

Experts have suggested that unlike Coronavirus, the overall risk to the broader population was very low.

However, several countries, where the virus was confirmed, decided to purchase the smallpox vaccine.

Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.

There are two clades of monkeypox virus: the West African clade and the Congo Basin (Central African) clade. The name monkeypox originates from the initial discovery of the virus in monkeys in a Danish laboratory in 1958. The first human case was identified in a child in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.

Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.

The incubation period of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days.

Monkeypox is usually self-limiting but may be severe in some individuals, such as children, pregnant women or persons with immunosuppression due to other health conditions, WHO said.