TOKYO, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Japan confirmed its second case of monkeypox on Thursday, with a man in his 30s testing positive in Tokyo, according to an official.

The man, who had been overseas, has been hospitalized, the Tokyo metropolitan official said, but his condition is stable.

Japan confirmed its first case of monkeypox on Monday with a man in his 30s in Tokyo testing positive.

The patient traveled to a European country from late June to mid-July where he had close contact with a person infected with monkeypox, the government said.

Symptoms of the disease, spread through close physical contact, include fever, extensive rashes, skin lesions and swollen lymph nodes following an incubation period of five to 21 days, health officials said.

Amid a global outbreak of the virus, declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday, the Japanese government has asked its nationals overseas to take extra precautions against catching the disease.

The government has also warned citizens here who plan to travel abroad or remain outside Japan to be especially careful.

A task force to deal with the outbreak of monkeypox, a tropical disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, has been formed in Japan and is headed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management Takashi Murata.

The task force held their first talks on Monday earlier this week and outlined its strategy to fight the arrival of the disease. Enditem

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