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The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has revealed that no further monkeypox cases have been recorded in South Africa after contact tracing was conducted with the two reported cases.
Late last month, two unlinked laboratory-confirmed monkeypox cases were recorded in the country. A 30-year-old male from Gauteng, and a 32-year-old male from the Western Cape.
In a press release on Thursday, the institute said that 11 close contacts between the two patients were identified and monitored.
Of the five contacts for the case reported from Gauteng and six for the one from Western Cape, none have been identified as secondary cases.
“There have been no secondary cases linked to the two confirmed cases reported on 22 and 28 June, respectively.
“Full genetic sequencing for both cases were conducted and the viral genomes clustered in the B.1 lineage of the Western Africa clade with other viral genomes associated with cases of the current multi-country outbreak,” said the NICD.
The risk of monkeypox to the general public is low, said the institute, however, health workers have been urged to be on high alert for specific symptoms associated with monkeypox.
These symptoms include a headache, acute onset of fever, lymphadenopathy or swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, and backache.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said globally there are now more than 6000 monkeypox cases recorded in 58 countries.
“I continue to be concerned by the scale and spread of the virus. Europe is the current epicentre of the outbreak, recording more than 80 percent of cases globally.
“In Africa, cases are appearing in countries not previously affected and record numbers are being recorded in places which have previous experience with monkeypox,” he said.
"On #monkeypox, I continue to be concerned by the scale and spread of the virus. Across the world, there has now been more than 6,000 cases recorded in 58 countries"-@DrTedros
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 6, 2022