Philippines reports first mpox case after global health warning

Man, 33, with no travel history is first reported case of mpox infection in the Philippines

The Philippines has detected its first case of mpox since the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued its highest alert over the virus last week.

It is the first reported case since December last year, Manila's health department said on Monday, adding that it was awaiting test results before being able to determine the strain.

The patient has been identified as a 33-year-old Filipino male with no travel history outside the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said. "We are awaiting sequencing results and will update once available," spokesperson Albert Domingo said.

The man's symptoms started more than a week ago with fever, which was followed four days later by a "distinct rash on the face, back, nape, trunk, groin, as well as palms and soles", the Philippine DOH said in a statement.

"The patient did not travel abroad, that means the virus is already here in the Philippines," health secretary Teddy Herbosa added.

The health department said it was the 10th laboratory-confirmed case since the detection of the first mpox case in July 2022.

The WHO on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa that had spread to neighbouring countries.

Mpox belongs to the smallpox family of viruses but causes milder symptoms including fever, chills and body aches, with more serious cases likely to develop characteristic lesions on the face, hands, chest, and genitals.

Health officials are concerned about a new deadlier strain of the virus, formerly known as monkeypox, that has spread through several African countries.

A case of the new variant was confirmed on Thursday in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent. Officials said the risk to the general public was considered "very low" and that they expected sporadic imported cases to continue.

Pakistan has reported at least two cases of the mpox virus, one of them in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country.

The health ministry confirmed that so far no cases of the new Clade 1 strain have been diagnosed as it awaited the test results of the second patient. “The virus has been classified as Clade 2b,” the health ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Congo, which currently needs three million doses of vaccine, will receive the first doses from the US next week, health minister Roger Kamba said on Monday. He added the US and Japan have offered to send vaccines, without providing further details.

The WHO has reported over 17,000 mpox cases and over 500 deaths worldwide this year. More than 96 per cent of all cases and deaths have been in Congo, whose health system has long struggled to contain disease outbreaks over the country's vast area and poor infrastructure.

Children under 15 account for more than 70 per cent of the cases and 85 per cent of deaths in Congo.

Meanwhile, India has directed all airports, ports and border authorities to remain vigilant amid the rising cases of mpox.