The Philippines has detected its first case of Mpox for the year of 2024. As per the Health Department, this marks the first case for the southeast Asian country since December 2023. As of now, the strain of monkeypox virus is yet to be determined.
As per the Philippines Health Department, the patient has been identified as a 33-year-old male who has no travel history outside the Philippines.
"We are awaiting sequencing results and will update once available," said Albert Domingo, the spokesperson for the health department.
"Symptoms started more than a week ago with fever, which was followed four days later by findings of a distinct rash on the face, back, nape, trunk, groin, as well as palms and soles," read an official statement issued by the health department.
The case in Manila also comes amid a global outbreak of the monkeypox virus. After the World Health Organsation (WHO) declared the Mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency, cases were detected outside the continent in Pakistan and Sweden.
The highest number of cases of Mpox have been detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo. From Congo, the virus spread to neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Kenya and other African nations.
The outbreak of the Monekypox virus was categorised as PHEIC - a public health emergency of international concern.
Shortly after the WHO alert, a case of the new variant - Clade 1b - was confirmed in Sweden and linked to the putbreak in Africa. After Sweden, a case was detected in Pakistan in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country.
