South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has confirmed the country’s first monkeypox case.
Speaking at a press conference, today, June 23, 2022, the South Africa Health Minister, Joe Phaahla said: “The patient was a 30-year-old male from Johannesburg who had no travel history, meaning that this cannot be attributed to having been acquired outside South Africa.”
Monkeypox, a mild viral infection, usually occurs in remote areas near tropical rainforests in the west and central Africa where animals such as infected rodents, rats, and squirrels can pass on the virus to humans.
It can be passed on through close contact with an infected person. The virus can enter the body through open wounds, the respiratory tract, or the eyes, nose, or mouth.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC), the spread of the monkeypox virus on the continent has increased significantly.
So far this year, the Africa CDC has documented; 1,642 cases of monkeypox (1,571 suspected and 71 confirmed) and 73 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working to rename the virus in order to reduce the stigma associated with it and its connection to Africa.