Do not panic, monkeypox is rarely fatal, not highly transmissible and very close physical contact is required for transmission, emphasised health experts as South Africa reported its first case.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla confirmed yesterday morning that he had received a report from the National Health Laboratory Services chief executive that they had confirmed through laboratory tests the first ever case of monkeypox in South Africa.
“The patient is a 30-year-old male from Johannesburg who has no travel history, meaning that this cannot be attributed to having been acquired outside South Africa,” Phaahla said.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed that contact tracing had commenced in an attempt to identify any additional linked cases of monkeypox in South Africa.
“Because of the travel history for this particular case, it means that it was acquired locally so the tracing process is under way and the idea is to identity the contacts the individual had with and trace back any cases,” said Dr Jacqueline Weyer during a question and answer session with the NICD yesterday afternoon.
Nevashan Govender said the NICD received a query from the NICD doctor hotline on Monday night and the decision was made to test for monkeypox. Confirmation came on Wednesday night.
Since May, the rare viral infection in humans has been reported in more than 3 000 individuals from several European countries, the US, Canada, Australia, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. The NICD said this was, however, the first multi-country outbreak of monkeypox and was already the largest outbreak of monkeypox recorded.
“The cases to date mostly involve individuals who self-identify as men having sex with men. Risk factors include multiple sexual partners. Recent large social events are thought to have served as super-spreader events,” the institute said.
In this regard, Weyer emphasised that there was no evidence to suggest that there was different physical or biological susceptibility to the monkeypox virus, and everyone was at risk of getting it, regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation.
“We are one species, our biology works the same way to the virus. There is no selection in terms of the group that is being infected from that perspective,” she said.
She added that she believed the fact that most cases reported around the world were among men who had sex with men illustrated the very close contact that was required for the transmission of the virus.
Person-to-person transmissions involves close contact, for example kissing, cuddling, sexual contact, with an infected person or materials that have been contaminated by an infected person, for example sharing linen, clothes and other household items.
“The virus is not highly transmissible and close physical contact is required for transmission. It does not spread similarly to influenza or the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” the NICD emphasised.
Professor Adrian Puren said that isolation, limiting contact including skin-to-skin contact, and hygiene were important when a patient was infected.
Monkeypox presents with an acute illness characterised by fever and general flu-like symptoms, followed by the eruption of a blister-like rash on the skin. The national public health institute added that the disease was rarely fatal, cases typically resolved within two to four weeks, and most cases did not require hospital treatment.
“Prevention of infection hinges on the isolation of cases until fully recovered. The risk to the general population is considered low, given the low transmissibility of the virus,” the NICD said.
Weyer said that if the global outbreak was not brought under control quickly, we could see the disease becoming widespread.
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