Fourth case of monkeypox in SA confirmed

The Department of Health has confirmed a fourth case of monkeypox in South Africa.

In a statement released on Monday, spokesperson Foster Mohale says the patient is a 28-year-old male from the Western Cape.

He travelled to Spain and returned to South Africa in the second week of August.

"A polymerase chain reaction test was performed in a private pathology laboratory and the samples were submitted to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases for sequencing analysis. Public health response measures to prevent the spread of the infection, including contact tracing have been instituted," says Mohale.

This brings the country's laboratory-confirmed monkeypox cases to four.

The three previous cases were reported in Gauteng, Western Cape and Limpopo. All the cases were reported in males aged 30, 32 and 42 years. Mohale says the three have since completed the self-isolation and monitoring period without reporting further symptoms and health complications.

Monkeypox is usually a mild disease manifesting as blisters on the skin, it is usually mild and self-limiting with a fatality rate of 1%.

‘’Minister Phaahla will, on Friday this week provide more details on the government`s response to Monkeypox during the planned media briefing,’’ he added.

 

PICTURE: Twitter - @GovernmentZA

Done By: Mitchum George