As Mpox cases spread across the globe, the Philippines has mire two more cases of the monkeypox virus, bringing the number of active cases in the country to three.
"We continue to see local transmission of mpox clade II here in the Philippines, in Metro Manila in particular," stated Health Minister Teodoro Herbosa.
Earlier on, Manila had detected one mpox case in a 33-year-old man who had no travel history outside the Philippines. The two new cases have been detected in a 37-year-old make and a 32-year-old male.
As the outbreak continues to spread, Singapore has also upped its screening procedures at airports. The Ministry of Health has stated that it has begun temperature and visual screening at Changi and Seletar airports. Similar measures will also be implemented at sea for travellers arriving on ships.
Africa CDC Warns Of More Cases, New Challenges
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has warned of new challenges amid the Mpox outbreak such as a high number of cases, limited diagnosis d a high fatality rate.
As per Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya, the major challenges in the outbreak relate to the rapid spread of the disease to new countries.
As per data from the African CDC, a total of 21,466 potential cases of mpox, and 591 deaths have been reported from 13 African Union countries as of August 23.
The 13 countries where Mpox cases have been detected in Africa are - Burundi, Cameroon, the Central Africa Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon, Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. The DG further added that Sierra Leone and Malawi are testing their suspected cases.
Apart from Africa, cases have been detected in Singapore, the Philippines, Pakistan, Sweden and Malaysia
