During the past few days, the world has been on alert following monkeypox cases reported in several countries around the world.

But, what are the symptoms of monkeypox?

Monkeypox starts with flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches and exhaustion. In some cases, patients may develop a rash on their face or other parts of the body within 1-3 days of getting the fever.

Notably, the rash can look similar to chickenpox, syphilis or herpes. However, a different feature is fluid-filled blisters called vesicles on the palms of the hands.

Symptoms can develop anywhere from 5-27 days after the individual gets infected and most cases recover after two to four weeks.

Following the detection of the first US case, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) instructed health care providers to look out for patients with the characteristic onkeypox rash.

"We are recommending that all clinicians do this, but in particular, those caring for patients in STD clinics," said Agam Rao, a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, referring to sexually transmitted diseases.

Anne Rimoin, an epidemiology professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said that so far, the recent infections, "appear to be reasonably mild cases that have been found through clinics, not because people are presenting severely ill to the emergency room."