ROME, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Italy announced on Thursday that the country's first case of monkeypox had been identified, with the patient isolated at a hospital in Rome.

       According to news reports, the infected patient had returned to Italy from a vacation in Spain's Canary Islands. The patient is being cared for at Rome's Spallanzani Hospital, one of the country's top hospitals for infectious diseases.

       In a statement, the hospital said it was monitoring two other possible cases of the viral disease.

       The country's National Health Institute (ISS) said it had formed a special task force to "continuously monitor the national situation," and the Italian Ministry of Health has called on the regions to monitor their hospitals for other cases.

       According to media reports, a limited number of cases of monkeypox have so far been reported in Britain, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.

       Monkeypox is a viral disease that is unusual in humans. It spreads through close contact between humans and animals, and can also pass between humans after close contact. Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, headaches, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, and skin manifestations such as blisters.