<p>Japan on Monday confirmed its first case of monkeypox, detected in a man in his 30s who had travelled overseas, Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike announced.</p>.<p>"It's a man in his 30s with a history of overseas travel who had returned from Europe. This is the first monkeypox case in Japan," Koike told reporters.</p>.<p>She said the man had been hospitalised in Tokyo, without giving further details.</p>.<p>The case was reported hours after Japan's government convened a taskforce meeting to collect information and prepare to test and receive patients at clinics.</p>.<p>On Saturday, the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency -- the highest alarm it can sound.</p>.<p>Monkeypox has affected more than 16,800 people in 74 countries, according to a tally by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published on July 22.</p>.<p>A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.</p>.<p>Ninety-five percent of cases have been transmitted through sexual activity, according to a study of 528 people in 16 countries published in the New England Journal of Medicine -- the largest research to date.</p>.<p>WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has previously expressed concern that stigma and scapegoating could make the outbreak harder to track.</p>.<p>A Danish drugmaker of smallpox vaccines said on Monday the European Commission has approved its jab for use against monkeypox.</p>.<p>Japan's health ministry panel will discuss on Friday whether the stockpiled smallpox vaccines in the country can be used to treat monkeypox.</p>.<p>Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said in May that the vaccines are "produced and stockpiled in Japan from a counter-terrorism perspective" to prepare the country to respond to possible attacks with a viral agent.</p>
<p>Japan on Monday confirmed its first case of monkeypox, detected in a man in his 30s who had travelled overseas, Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike announced.</p>.<p>"It's a man in his 30s with a history of overseas travel who had returned from Europe. This is the first monkeypox case in Japan," Koike told reporters.</p>.<p>She said the man had been hospitalised in Tokyo, without giving further details.</p>.<p>The case was reported hours after Japan's government convened a taskforce meeting to collect information and prepare to test and receive patients at clinics.</p>.<p>On Saturday, the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency -- the highest alarm it can sound.</p>.<p>Monkeypox has affected more than 16,800 people in 74 countries, according to a tally by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published on July 22.</p>.<p>A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.</p>.<p>Ninety-five percent of cases have been transmitted through sexual activity, according to a study of 528 people in 16 countries published in the New England Journal of Medicine -- the largest research to date.</p>.<p>WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has previously expressed concern that stigma and scapegoating could make the outbreak harder to track.</p>.<p>A Danish drugmaker of smallpox vaccines said on Monday the European Commission has approved its jab for use against monkeypox.</p>.<p>Japan's health ministry panel will discuss on Friday whether the stockpiled smallpox vaccines in the country can be used to treat monkeypox.</p>.<p>Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said in May that the vaccines are "produced and stockpiled in Japan from a counter-terrorism perspective" to prepare the country to respond to possible attacks with a viral agent.</p>