A monkeypox infection has been detected in a school child in Cologne. A city spokeswoman said on Friday.

It is a child going to secondary school. However, the "contact situation" did not require "any action", it said. The city did not provide any further information.

Cases of monkeypox in children have so far been very rare in Germany. The vast majority of the more than 3,500 patients recorded nationwide are men. "So far, only 14 female cases, three cases in male adolescents and two cases in children under the age of 14 have been reported in Germany," said the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Friday.