South Africa has detected a fourth case of Monkeypox, Health Minister Joe Phaahla confirmed on Monday.
He said a 28-year-old man from Western Cape, who recently travelled to Spain, has tested positive.
“A polymerase chain reaction test was performed in a private pathology laboratory and the samples were submitted to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases for sequencing analysis,” Phaahla said in a statement, adding that he will give an update on Friday.
“Public health response measures to prevent the spread of the infection, including contact tracing, have been instituted.”
Three previous cases were reported in Gauteng, Western Cape and Limpopo, respectively, where men aged 30, 32 and 42 years tested positive for the disease.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak of the virus as a global health emergency with confirmed cases sitting at an average of 32 000. Deaths linked to the virus have also been confirmed in some countries.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, said recently: “Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners.”
Vaccination is recommended for prevention.
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