THAILAND HAS confirmed its first case of Monkeypox after a 27-year old Nigerian man was tested positive for the highly infectious disease, but authorities said the patient has escaped from hospital.
Police are now searching for the man and is believed to be somewhere in Phuket. At least 154 people had contact with the Nigerian and were all traced and tested and none were found to be infected with the monkeypox virus, according to Bangkok Post.
The newspaper also quoted Dr Kusak Kukiartkul, chief of the Phuket public health office, as saying the monkeypox detected in the patient was the African variant. He said the man had sought treatment at a private hospital as an outpatient. He was not admitted as his condition was not severe.
The Nigerian man had a fever, coughing, sore throat and runny nose, a rash and lesions in his genital area that spread to other parts of his body and face, according to reports, adding the police, immigration and disease control officials have been assigned to find him.
Meanwhile, hospitals, sexual disease clinics and international airports have been alerted to strengthen screening procedures for monkeypox. Department of Disease Control chief Opas Karnkawinpong said that monkeypox had been placed on the list of communicable diseases under surveillance.
Provincial communicable disease committees, including Bangkok, need to put in place a disease control plan, as required by the Communicable Diseases Act. All detected cases must be directly reported to the authorities.
He said the Public Health Ministry had ordered the implementation of a surveillance and screening system for people suspected of having the disease. The symptoms included high fever, headache, sore throat, and blisters on the hands, feet and genitals.
All hospitals, sexual disease clinics and disease control officials at international airports must have a surveillance and screening system to detect the disease.
Singapore in June also confirmed one case of monkeypox after a 42-year old British national who works as a flight attendant, is tested positive for the virus, according to a report by the Channel News Asia.
The Ministry of Health said the man was in Singapore between June 15 and June 17, and again on Jun 19 as he flew in and out of the country.
The case had the onset of headache on June 14 and fever on June 16. These symptoms subsequently resolved, and he then developed skin rashes three days later. The man then sought medical attention online on the night of June 19, and was conveyed to NCID on June 20 for further assessment.
The World Health Organization has reported that monkeypox is now present in over two dozen countries, and warned the public that there will be more cases as the virus continues to spread.
Among the countries with reported monkeypox cases include Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Congo, French Guiana, United States, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia.
Zoonotic disease
Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. It is caused by the monkeypox virus which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family.
The name monkeypox originates from the initial discovery of the virus in monkeys in Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1958. The first human case was identified in a young child in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.
Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding. The incubation period of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days.
Various animal species have been identified as susceptible to the monkeypox virus, according to WHO. “Uncertainty remains on the natural history of the monkeypox virus and further studies are needed to identify the reservoir(s) and how virus circulation is maintained in nature. Eating inadequately cooked meat and other animal products of infected animals is a possible risk factor,” it said.
Monkeypox is usually self-limiting but there is likely to be little immunity to monkeypox among people living in non-endemic countries since the virus has not previously been identified in those populations. (Mindanao Examiner)
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