Dr. Abdullah Asiri, deputy minister of health for preventive health, said that the Kingdom's health sector is capable to monitor and discover suspected cases of "monkeypox" and to combat infection.

He said: “There is a standard definition of suspected cases and the way to confirm them and monitoring and diagnosis methods are available in the laboratories of the Kingdom.”

“Until now, cases of transmission between humans are very limited, and therefore the possibility of any outbreaks occurring from it, even in countries that have detected cases, are very low,” he added.

The World Health Organization said about 80 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in 11 countries, warning that more cases are likely to be reported.

The WHO says that another 50 suspected cases are being investigated, without naming any countries.

Earlier, infections were confirmed in Italy, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the US, Canada and the UK — where the first European case was reported.

Monkeypox is most common in remote parts of Central and West Africa.

It is a rare viral infection which is usually mild and from which most people recover in a few weeks, according to the UK's National Health Service.