THE Quezon City local government on Wednesday said the country’s first mpox patient this year went to two establishments in Quezon City.
Authorities said the 33-year-old patient went to a dermatology clinic and a massage spa along E. Rodriguez Avenue, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
She said authorities closed down the spa after discovering its permits had expired.
The local government said the 41 close contacts of the mpox patient were quarantined, as part of containment measures of the disease.
The World Health Organization last week declared the mpox surge a public health emergency of international concern, its highest alert level.
The Filipino man who contracted the virus had not traveled outside the country, the health department said in a statement. His case was reported by a government hospital on Sunday.
Health authorities are awaiting sequencing results to check whether the case is Clade 1b, a deadly and more transmissible strain of the virus that has killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and been detected in Sweden and Pakistan in recent days.
The Filipino patient’s symptoms included “a distinct rash on the face, back, nape, trunk, groin, as well as palms and soles,” the health department said.
Mpox virus “can spread to anyone through contact with objects, fabrics, and surfaces that have not been disinfected after use by someone with mpox,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This includes items like clothing, bedding, towels, fetish gear, or sex toys,” it added.
The agency said it was updating its mpox guidelines to encourage those exhibiting symptoms to seek consultation and testing.
“Our health system is working. We can handle the situation, and will keep the public well-informed,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in the statement.
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