Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Philippines has detected its first case of monkeypox in a person with a history of overseas travel.
The announcement came within a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency.
Philippine officials did not identify the person’s gender. Authorities only said he was 31 years old and tested positive on Thursday after an RT-PCR test.
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“This case has previously traveled to countries with documented cases of monkeypox,” said Beverly Ho, acting deputy minister for the Ministry of Health.
“Ten close contacts were recorded, three of whom were from the same house. All have been advised to be quarantined and monitored by the department.”
As is well known, a spike in monkeypox infections has been reported since May outside West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that more than 18,000 cases had now been reported to the organization from 78 countries, with 70% of them in Europe and 25% in the Americas.
Five deaths have been reported in the outbreak since May, he said.
The Philippines is trying to prevent potential panic, saying that monkeypox is not like Covid-19.
“It’s not like Covid which can spread through the air very easily and can be fatal,” said Trixie Cruz-Angeles, a spokeswoman for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“It’s not too fatal,” he said.
Ho said the Philippines was working with the United States to secure a monkeypox vaccine.
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