One person died and four are in hospital as South Africa is currently experiencing an outbreak of Mpox, formerly known as Monkeypox.
The outbreak was confirmed by the Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla during a media briefing on Wednesday.
On the 8th of May, a 35-year-old male patient tested positive for the viral infection in Gauteng and two weeks later a 39-year-old tested positive in Durban.
A 37-year-old man who tested positive on the 7th of June died in the Thembisa Hospital on Monday.
Minister Phaahla says there are four more laboratory-confirmed cases in the country, one in Gauteng and three in KwaZulu Natal.
He says as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines the cases are classified as serious and all patients are currently being treated in hospital.
All patients are men between the ages of 30 and 39 with co-morbidities and a history of having sex with other men.
The Health Department has called on organisations working on HIV programmes to implement targeted communication to intensify awareness about the outbreak and transmission of the disease.
The Outbreak Response Team of experts from the Department, provinces, NICD, WHO and other stakeholders in the health sector has embarked on contact tracing and case finding in the affected provinces.
A total of 38 contacts were identified in KwaZulu-Natal by the outbreak response teams.
The contacts include 16 household contacts, 10 hospital contacts, Five sexual partners and seven friends.
The Department says one of the cases indicated to have had sexual contact with multiple partners including both males and females.
TREATMENT
Currently, there is no registered treatment for Mpox in South Africa. However, the WHO recommends using Tecovirimat (TPOXX) for severe cases.
The Department has obtained Tecovirimat via Section 21 SAPHRA approval on a compassionate use basis for the five known patients with severe disease.
Three of the five cases had access to Tecovirimat treatment as advocated by the NICD.
The drug was obtained via Section 21 and the SAPHRA approval process, and donated by the WHO.
SAPHRA has since approved a request for a small stockpile of Tecovirimat which the WHO will support as a donation.
VIRUS
In 2022, when Mpox was declared a global health emergency of international concern, 98% of patients were men who had sex with men.
The virus can be spread through close contact with other people such as hugging, kissing and sharing contaminated towels or bedding.
The disease is mainly spread through sexual contact and presents as an acute illness characterised by fever and general flu-like symptoms.
