France had 33 “confirmed” cases of infection with the monkeypox virus on Wednesday morning, including 24 detected in the Paris region, health authorities announced on Thursday.

A new updated report from Public Health France (SPF, public body) will be published on Friday. The previous one, communicated on Sunday, reported 16 confirmed cases.

“The situation is evolving (…) very quickly”, which justifies a device for “perennial monitoring” of the transmission of this virus, explained SPF.

Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon indicated last week that the authorities did not expect an “outbreak” of the disease, specifying that the country had sufficient stocks of vaccines for people with contact cases.

Faced with cases of monkeypox, the High Authority for Health recommended on May 24 the vaccination of adults, including health professionals, who have had risky contact with a patient.

Monkey pox ("monkeypox" in English) or "simian orthopoxvirosis" is a disease considered rare, known in humans since 1970. It is caused by a DNA virus.