Argentina health officials rule out suspected case of mpox on grains ship

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Health officials in Argentina said on Wednesday that a test to determine if a crew member on a quarantined grains cargo ship was infected with the mpox virus had come back negative, according to a statement from the health ministry.

The crew member, an Indian national who had developed cyst-like skin lesions on his chest and face, was working on the ship that was traveling along a key commodities route near the inland river port city of Rosario.

Authorities had quarantined the ship in the Parana River as a precaution.

In its statement, the health ministry said the individual tested negative for mpox, but positive for chicken pox.

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years as a new variant of the virus spread rapidly in Africa. A day later, a case of the clade 1b variant was confirmed in Sweden, the first sign of its spread outside Africa.

(Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle)