South Africa on Thursday said medical experts had confirmed the country’s first case of Monkeypox.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the patient is a 30-year-old man from Johannesburg “with no travel history “.
The outbreak was confirmed after laboratory tests.
He said contact tracing had begun.
Monkeypox spreads from one person to another through direct contact with infected bodily fluids, lesions or scabs on the skin.
On Friday, 17 June 2022, the World Health organisation (WHO) said since the beginning of the year, cases of monkeypox have been reported from 42 Member States across five regions of the Americas, Africa, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific.
As of 15 June, a total of 2103 laboratory confirmed cases and one probable case, including one death, have been reported to WHO.
The outbreak of monkeypox continues to primarily affect men who have sex with men who have reported recent sex with new or multiple partners.
“While epidemiological investigations are ongoing, most reported cases in the recent outbreak have presented through sexual health or other health services in primary or secondary health care facilities, with a history of travel primarily to countries in Europe, and North America or other countries rather than to countries where the virus was not historically known to be present, and increasingly, recent travel locally or no travel at all,” WHO said in a communique.
“Confirmation of one case of monkeypox, in a country, is considered an outbreak.
“The unexpected appearance of monkeypox in several regions in the initial absence of epidemiological links to areas that have historically reported monkeypox, suggests that there may have been undetected transmission for some time.”
