MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday confirmed the detection of the fourth case of monkeypox in the Philippines, which netizens speculated on social media to be an Ilonggo.
In a statement last night, the Health department described the fourth monkeypox patient as a 25-year-old Filipino with no documented travel history to or from any country with confirmed cases of the disease.
“The case was tested and confirmed positive for monkeypox via real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR by the DOH Research Institute for Tropical Medicine with the result released on Aug. 19, 2022,” according to the DOH.
The Health department added that this fourth monkeypox patient is currently being cared for and is confined in an isolation facility, while his 14 close contacts were either in isolation facilities or being quarantined.
Prior to DOH’s advisory on Monday night, local radio stations in Iloilo City reported that a native of Carles, Iloilo was tested positive for monkeypox and was confined at the Western Visayas Medical Center.
Neither the hospital nor DOH Region 6 confirmed nor denied the radio reports.
The Philippines last week confirmed two additional cases of monkeypox from Filipino nationals with travel histories. Its first case, which was recorded on Aug. 6, was also linked to travel.
The World Health Organization has designated the outbreak of the monkeypox virus an emergency last month — something it reserves for diseases of highest concern.
Symptoms of monkeypox — which is endemic in parts of Central and Western Africa — include lesions, fever, muscle ache and chills. It has only been fatal in rare cases.
In contrast to previous outbreaks in Africa, the virus is predominantly spread from intimate contact — though it is not a sexually transmitted disease.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said other routes were also possible, including sharing bedding, clothing, and prolonged face-to-face contact.
The WHO has also called for people infected with monkeypox to avoid exposing animals to the virus following a first reported case of human-to-dog transmission./PN
