Cape Town - The national Department of Health has confirmed the first case of monkeypox in South Africa. The patient is a 30-year-old man from Johannesburg.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla confirmed the diagnosis on Thursday morning and said contact tracing of the patient has begun.
“Late yesterday, I received a report from the National Health laboratory Services CEO that they have confirmed through laboratory tests the first case of monkeypox in South Africa.
“The patient is a 30-year-old male from Johannesburg who has no travel history, meaning that this cannot be attributed to having been acquired outside South Africa. Working with the relevant health authorities, a process of contact tracing has begun,” Phaahla said.
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%.
The disease has previously been reported in African countries such as Nigeria, the DRC, the Central African Republic and Ghana in the early 2000s. The current outbreak is dominated by high numbers in Europe – the UK, Spain, Germany, Portugal and France. Cases have also been reported in the USA and Canada.
“The NICD (National Institute for Communicable Diseases) is conducting online in service training for our health workers for them to be able to detect the disease so that the necessary laboratory tests can be done. The disease only spread through close droplets so you cannot get by being in the same room with an infected person. Thus far it has been dominant in men who have sex with men, but the main feature is that transmission is through close contact,” Phaahla said.
Cape Time