The Department of Health has announced a second confirmed case of monkeypox in South Africa.
According to the department, the 32-year-old man from Cape Town has no travel history, which suggests a high possibility of local transmission.
This comes few after the first confirmed case in which a man from Johannesburg was also positive for the virus.
“Minister Phaahla urges the public to observe good hygiene practices and other preventative measures which proved to be effective against Covid-19 and other infectious diseases in order to prevent the spread of this virus.
“We will continue with contact tracing while closely monitoring the situation and alert clinicians on symptoms to look for, and if the clinical picture fits with monkeypox, they are urged to complete case investigation form and send samples for test.”
The source and linkage of cases are still under investigation.
Monkeypox is usually a mild disease manifesting as blisters on the skin, it is usually mild and self-limiting with a fatality rate of 1%.
The disease has previously been reported in African countries such as Nigeria, DRC, CA Republic, and Ghana in the early 2000s.
The current outbreak is dominated by high numbers in European countries such as Spain, Germany, Portugal, France as well as the UK. The are other reported cases in USA and Canada.
