[imagesource: Reuters / Dado Ruvic / Illustration / File Photo]

Remember when the first case of COVID-19 was reported in South Africa?

I do – March 2020, and what feels like a lifetime ago.

I’m not suggesting monkeypox is going to wreak havoc on any sort of comparative scale, but it’s not ideal that we have our first recorded case.

News24 reports:

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla says the first case of monkeypox has been reported in South Africa.

The patient is a 30-year-old with no travel history.

“Monkeypox is usually a mild disease manifesting as blisters on the skin. It is usually mild and self-limiting with a fatality rate of 1%. The disease has previously been reported in African countries such as Nigeria, DRC, CA Republic and Ghana in the early 2000s.

“The current outbreak is dominated by high numbers in Europe eg UK, Spain, Germany, Portugal and France. Cases have also been reported in the USA and Canada.”

Phaahla said NICD was busy with contact tracing.

Monkeypox is typically a virus confined to central and western Africa and is considered endemic in 11 African nations.

What’s slightly worrying is that the 30-year-old who tested positive has no travel history.

A case of #monkeypox has been identified in South Africa. The case involves a 30-year-old male residing in the Gauteng province. Monkeypox is rarely fatal. Severe cases may occur in children, pregnant woman and in individuals that are immunocompromised https://t.co/dJ2j2aBGe1 pic.twitter.com/G9XPk0RBgI

— NICD (@nicd_sa) June 23, 2022

Monkeypox falls under the poxviruses family, which includes smallpox, and is spread by either being in contact with infected animals or through person-to-person transmission from respiratory droplets in the air.

The virus typically manifests with flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion, followed by a chickenpox-like rash on the face or other parts of the body within one to three days of the fever.

According to Anne Rimoin, a professor studying the spread of diseases at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, the last time the global West saw an outbreak like this was in 2003.

The World Health Organisation is due to decide today whether to declare monkeypox a global health emergency.

[source:news24]