Minister of Health south Africa Joe Phaahla confirms the case monkey pox first in the country.
The patient was a 30 year old man from Johannesburg. The man had no travel history.
“Meaning this cannot be attributed to acquiring it outside South Africa,” Phaahla told a news conference, as reported by ReutersThursday (23/6).
Currently, he said, the contact tracing process was ongoing.
Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions. The disease is endemic in some parts of Africa, but not in South Africa.
The World Health Organization will decide on Thursday whether monkeypox is a global health emergency.
The move has drawn criticism from some of Africa’s leading scientists who say it has been a crisis for several African countries for years.
(reuters/pmg)
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