The South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla has urged the people to be vigilant as the country has reported a laboratory-confirmed case of monkeypox disease, also known as Mpox.
The National Department
of Health headed by Phaahla said on Monday that the case involves a 35-year-old
male, who resides in the Gauteng province and tested positive on May 9, 2024.
The patient had no
recent history of travelling, Xinhua news agency reported.
The case was first
tested by Lancet Laboratory, one of the leading pathology laboratories in the
country, and then confirmed by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases
(NICD), which then alerted the department
"We urge the public
to seek treatment as soon as they see symptoms of monkeypox," Health
Department Spokesperson Foster Mohale told Xinhua news agency.
According to the
department, Mpox is a rare viral infectious disease in humans caused by the
monkeypox virus (MPXV).
Although the virus is
not highly transmissible from person to person, it has increased in global
public health significance and can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes,
and fever.
The department also
noted that Mpox presents with an acute illness characterised by fever and
general flu-like symptoms, followed by the eruption of a blister-like rash on
the skin.
The disease is rarely
fatal and cases typically resolve within two to four weeks and most cases do
not require hospital treatment, it added.
The last time South
Africa recorded a monkeypox case was in August 2022 when there were cases
across the globe.
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