HAVANA, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Cuba confirmed its first case of monkeypox late on Saturday, the country's Public Health ministry said, after detecting the viral disease in a tourist who had arrived from Italy this week.

The Italian man stayed in a rental home and traveled to various destinations in the western provinces of the Caribbean island nation before falling ill, the ministry said in a brief statement.

He sought medical attention on Thursday after presenting symptoms, including skin lesions, and then fell into cardiac arrest, from which he recovered, the statement said.