ONE new case of mpox (formerly monkeypox) has been detected in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DoH) said on Monday.
The last case of mpox in the Philippines was recorded in December 2023.
The department said the case was reported to the agency last August 18 — a 33-year-old Filipino male with no travel history outside the Philippines but with close, intimate contact three weeks before symptom onset.
The patient’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. He was seen in a government hospital, where specimens were collected from the skin lesions and tested via real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Mpox was recently declared by the World Health Organization as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
