(FILES) This file handout photo taken in the year 2004 and received on May 23, 2022 from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention, shows an ultrathin section electron-microscopic capture of the monkeypox virus. – The Word Health Organization called on July 1, 2022 for ‘urgent’ action to prevent the spread of monkeypox in Europe, noting that cases had tripled there over the past two weeks. (Photo by Freya KAULBARS / RKI Robert Koch Institute / AFP)
Monkeypox: SA’s three cases ‘unlinked’ – WHO emergency panel to meet again
The NICD said no secondary cases have been linked to the three laboratory-confirmed monkeypox cases in South Africa.
(FILES) This file handout photo taken in the year 2004 and received on May 23, 2022 from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention, shows an ultrathin section electron-microscopic capture of the monkeypox virus. – The Word Health Organization called on July 1, 2022 for ‘urgent’ action to prevent the spread of monkeypox in Europe, noting that cases had tripled there over the past two weeks. (Photo by Freya KAULBARS / RKI Robert Koch Institute / AFP)
The third laboratory-confirmed monkeypox case in South Africa was detected in Limpopo on 10 July. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said the three cases detected in the country during the current outbreak are unlinked.
MONKEYPOX SITUATION UPDATE – NICD
The first case was detected in Gauteng on 22 June, and the second in the Western Cape on 28 June. Both these cases had no recent international travel history.
However, the NICD revealed – on Thursday – that the first patient had close contact with an undiagnosed person with recent international history while the Western Cape patient could possibly have had close contact with international travellers due to his line of work,
The third monkeypox case is an imported one. The patient is a 42-year-old man from Switzerland. He arrived in South Africa on 2 July and he reportedly has a history of being in close contact with a suspected/confirmed case of monkeypox on 28 June in Switzerland.
“He developed mild disease, not requiring hospital treatment and has since returned to Switzerland on 10 July 2022,” said the NICD.
As of Thursday, 14 July, there have been no secondary cases linked to the three confirmed cases of monkeypox reported in South Africa.
The global picture is much bleaker – 11 015 laboratory-confirmed cases of the disease have been reported in 60 non-endemic countries across five World Health Organization (WHO) regions (The European Region, Regions of the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean Region, Western Pacific Region and the African Region).
Most of the cases have been detected in Europe. On Thursday, the WHO announced that its monkeypox committee would meet on 21 July to decide whether the multi-country outbreak is a global health emergency.
The committee met on 23 June for the same reason and on that occasion, the majority felt that the monkeypox outbreak had not met the threshold to constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), according to eNCA.
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