A 31-YEAR-old Filipino male in Singapore has been tested positive with monkeypox, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) declared on Sunday.
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said the Philippine Embassy in the city-state is monitoring the case.
According to the Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH), the Filipino patient tested positive for the infection on July 25.
“He developed fever on [July 21], and subsequently rashes on his face and at his perianal region [around the anus, which] further spread to other parts of his body,” the ministry said.
Three days later, the individual sought medical care at Singapore General Hospital, and was confined on the same day. The following day, he was tested positive for monkeypox.
Currently, his “condition is stable,” according to Daza.
The Filipino is considered a resident of the island-nation, and has no travel history. As such, Singaporean health authorities considered him as a “local case.”
“[It] is not linked to any of the monkeypox cases earlier announced by MOH,” the ministry added. “Contact tracing is ongoing.”
As of this story’s writing, Daza said that due to “privacy issues,” the DFA could not share any more information.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared as a public-health emergency of international concern the global monkeypox outbreak. More than 18,000 cases of the viral disease have been reported from 78 countries, with more than 70 percent from Europe, and 25 percent from the Americas.
Unlike Covid-19, the monkeypox virus is not spread airborne. Transmission is through lesions, body fluids, and respiratory droplets. The WHO said 98 percent of monkeypox cases during this outbreak are sexually transmitted, specifically among men having sex with men.