First Mpox Case Detected in Azerbaijan

A test tube labelled "Mpox virus positive" is held in this illustration taken August 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
A test tube labelled "Mpox virus positive" is held in this illustration taken August 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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First Mpox Case Detected in Azerbaijan

A test tube labelled "Mpox virus positive" is held in this illustration taken August 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
A test tube labelled "Mpox virus positive" is held in this illustration taken August 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

A case of mpox has been found in Azerbaijan, Interfax news agency reported on Saturday, adding that the patient had been isolated and was receiving treatment in hospital.
Interfax quoted Azerbaijan's Ministry of Health and Management Union of Medical Territorial Units (TABIB) as saying the patient was a 22-year-old citizen of Azerbaijan who had been on a tourist trip abroad from Jan. 2-11.
A few days after his return, he went to a clinic in Azerbaijan's capital Baku complaining of weakness, fever, a skin rash, enlarged lymph nodes and muscle pains, Interfax reported.
The ministry and TABIB did not specify where the patient had been abroad.
According to Reuters, Interfax said family members who had been in contact with the patient had shown no signs of the disease and were under home observation.
Mpox is a viral infection that spreads through close contact, and typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. It is usually mild, but it can be lethal.
In August, the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency after an mpox outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo that had spread to neighboring countries and beyond.



Russia Says it Will Counter Any UK-Ukraine Cooperation in Sea of Azov

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shake hands after a signing ceremony, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 16, 2025.REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shake hands after a signing ceremony, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 16, 2025.REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
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Russia Says it Will Counter Any UK-Ukraine Cooperation in Sea of Azov

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shake hands after a signing ceremony, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 16, 2025.REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shake hands after a signing ceremony, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 16, 2025.REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday Ukraine and Britain "had no room" for cooperation in the Sea of Azov, commenting on a new 100-year partnership agreement between Kyiv and London the two countries' leaders announced on Thursday.

The Kremlin said on Friday that any placement of British military assets in Ukraine under the new agreement would be of concern to Moscow, in particular in the Sea of Azov, which Russia considers its own, and the ministry echoed those remarks.

"Any claims to this water area are a gross interference in the internal affairs of our country and will be firmly resisted," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a comment posted on the ministry's website, Reuters reported.

The Azov Sea is bordered by southwest Russia, parts of southern Ukraine that Russia has seized in the war, and the Crimean peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Zakharova said the agreement itself was "worthless" for Russia, calling it "just another PR campaign" of Ukraine. Zakharova described the Sea of Azov as Russia's "internal sea".

British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer pledged on Thursday to work with Ukraine and allies on robust security guarantees if a ceasefire is negotiated with Russia, offering more support to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with a 100-year partnership deal.

The agreement, announced in Kyiv during Starmer's first visit as prime minister, covered several areas, including boosting military cooperation to strengthen security in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov.