Empox patients detected again in the Philippines

Last Updated on August 20, 2024 10:12 am

The Southeast Asian country of the Philippines has reported its first case of empox since December last year. However, it is not yet known which type of empox this patient is suffering from.

On Monday (August 19), the country’s health ministry said it is awaiting test results to confirm.

The Philippine Department of Health (DoH) said the patient is a 33-year-old Filipino with no history of travel outside the Philippines.

Last Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Mpox a global health emergency for the second time in two years. WHO’s highest level of alert is ‘Global Health Emergency’. The WHO issued this warning after the virus spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to neighboring countries.

The initial outbreak of the highly contagious disease, formerly known as monkeypox, killed at least 450 people in the DRC.

Reuters reports that a new strain of the virus is spreading easily through regular close contact, raising global concerns.

An empox patient diagnosed in Sweden was confirmed on Thursday to be infected with the new strain of the virus. The affected person was recently in an area of ​​Africa, where he was infected. Clade 1, a highly lethal form of Empox, has recently become widespread in that region of Africa.

A case of empox was detected in Pakistan on Friday, a day after indications from Europe that the disease is spreading outside the African continent. This person was returning home from a Middle Eastern country. However, it is not known if he has contracted any form of the virus.

The new patient in the Philippines is the 10th patient tested positive for the infection in the country. The country’s health department identified its first empox patient in July 2022.