Durban – A case of monkeypox has been reported in Limpopo, bringing the number of confirmed cases in South Africa to three.
On Sunday, Limpopo Health MEC, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, said her province’s first case was confirmed by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
The confirmed case is that of a 42-year-old male tourist from Switzerland who is holidaying in the province. The case presented with signs and symptoms such as a rash, lymphadenopathy, muscle ache and fatigue," the MEC said.
She said the department has sent officials to follow through the case.
"Three contacts have already been identified and none of them have developed signs thus far," Ramathuba said.
She urged the community to remain calm.
“We are calling for calm. We can confirm that the case is an outpatient, currently isolating and requires no admission. More information will be communicated once available,” Ramathuba said.
South Africa’s previous two cases were recorded in Gauteng and the Western Cape. The institute reported that 11 close contacts were traced between the two males, 30 and 32 years old, there were no further cases.
The NICD said full genetic sequencing for both cases were conducted and the viral genomes clustered in the B.1 lineage of the Western Africa clade with other viral genomes associated with cases of the current multi-country outbreak.
“There have been no secondary cases linked to the two confirmed cases reported on 22 and 28 June, respectively,” the NICD said.
According to the World Health Organization, the outbreak continues to primarily affect men who have sex with men who have reported recent sex with one or multiple male partners, suggesting no signal of sustained transmission beyond these networks for now.
The WHO reported that from January 1 – July 4, 2022, 6027 laboratory confirmed cases of monkeypox and three deaths have been reported to WHO from 59 countries/territories/areas in five WHO Regions (African Region, Region of the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean Region, European Region, Western Pacific Region) (Table 1).
The WHO said since the previous Disease Outbreak News was published on last month, 2 614 new cases and two new deaths have been reported; nine new countries/territories/areas have reported cases.
“Ten countries have not reported new cases for over 21 days, the maximum duration of the incubation period of the disease. This is the first time that local transmission of monkeypox has been reported in newly-affected countries without epidemiological links to countries that have previously reported monkeypox in West or Central Africa,” the WHO said.
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