Thailand Detects New Cases Of Mpox Monkeypoxpox From European Tourists Arriving From Africa

Mpox virus transmission (monkeypox)/UNSPLASH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

JAKARTA - Thailand detected a case of monkey/moxpox in a European man who arrived from Africa last week. Authorities are waiting for test results to determine the type of virus.

Thai authorities treat the case as if Monkeypox/mox Clade 1, because the 66-year-old European man who lives in Thailand arrived on August 14 from the African country where the virus spreads.

"After he arrived from the flight, there was little time for him to make contact with other people," Thailand's Department of Disease Control Director General Thongchai Keerathatayakorn told Reuters on Wednesday, August 21.

"He arrived around 6 pm and the next day, August 15, he went to see a doctor at the hospital," he continued.

Thongchai said the man had undergone tests to determine whether the case was a Clade 1 variant and the results were expected to come out on Friday.

Authorities are also monitoring 43 people in the country who may have had contact with the patient.

Thai authorities did not mention the African country where the man was. Thongchai said the man was transiting in a Middle Eastern country, which he also did not name him, before flying to Thailand.

Thailand has detected 800 cases ofmpox Clade 2 since 2022, but so far no case of the Clade 1 or Clade 1b variant has been detected.