Cuba is on alert with its case surveillance systems for monkeypox and acute hepatitis of unknown origin, said the Minister of Public Health, Dr. José Ángel Portal.

Havana, Cuba.- In the Mesa Redonda TV program, the Minister said they have prepared a confrontation plan and are working on training personnel to know when the active cases are both at the border and in the national territory.

We have not stopped studying cases, remarked Portal and exemplified that they analyzed 22 children with hepatitis. None of them was classified because a cause has been determined, and the evolution has been favorable, he underlined.

He said it takes the organization of the system and resources to respond to what is happening. We have to protect our people.

To date, the World Health Organization has received notifications of some 257 confirmed cases of monkeypox. At the same time, another 120 are suspected in 23 countries.

As of Monday, the organization had registered 650 probable cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children from 33 countries, and another 99 are still pending classification.

The cause of this severe acute hepatitis "remains unknown and is under investigation" and "it remains to be established whether and where the confirmations are above the expected reference levels,” the World Health Organization explained. It described the global risk as moderate. (RHC)