Pretoria – A third person has died from Mpox and three more cases were confirmed bringing the total number of cases to 16.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Health said: “The country has recorded three more positive cases of Mpox and one death as the efforts to curb the spread of this infectious disease are ongoing in the affected communities around the country”.
The department said the latest cases include a 40-year-old male from Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal, who presented with Mpox-like symptoms including rash all over his body.
The patient never presented himself at a hospital.
“He passed on at home and the results came back positive for Mpox on 23 June 2024,” the department said.
The other two cases were confirmed in Gauteng including a 43-year-old man diagnosed on 22 June 2024 at a local private health facility in Johannesburg and a 29-year-old male diagnosed in Mamelodi health facility, Tshwane, on 21 June 2024.
They presented with symptoms indicative of disease and had no international travel history.
“This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of Mpox in South Africa to 16 since the outbreak of the disease in May 2024.
Eight cases from KwaZulu-Natal, seven cases from Gauteng, and one from Western Cape,” the department said.
“All cases are males, aged between 23-43 years old. The number of Mpox-related deaths has also increased to three.”
Earlier on Tuesday, South African border authorities announced that visitors to the country were now being screened at all ports of entry.
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