Thailand Confirms The First Monkeypox Case: Detected In Phuket, But The Patient Is Missing

Illustration of Patong Beach Phuket, Thailand. (Wikimedia Commons/jbremer57)

JAKARTA - Thailand confirmed its first case of monkeypox, but the patient, a 27-year-old Nigerian, disappeared after being notified of his positive test result on Monday.

The case was detected on the popular resort island of Phuket last weekend when the patient visited a private hospital with symptoms similar to monkeypox. According to health officials, the hospital took blood samples from patients and carried out swabs for laboratory tests on Saturday. The results came out positive on Monday night.

“On July 18, at around 6 pm, we got the results of the first laboratory test at Chulalongkorn University. After learning the results, the hospital called the patient to arrange for his transfer for medical treatment, but he refused and turned off his phone", explained Dr. Koosak Kookiatkul, head of the hospital. The Phuket Public Health Office, in a press conference on Friday, launched CNA on July 22.

According to the health chief of Phuket, the patient entered Thailand on October 21, 2021, and lived in a condominium in Patong Phuket from November. He often visited entertainment venues in the province.

After a visit to the hospital on July 16, the patient was advised to be quarantined in his apartment. But according to Dr. Koosak, closed-circuit television footage showed him leaving his accommodation after being informed of the positive test result on July 18 and checking into a hotel in Patong on the same day.

“On July 19, he was still at the place but did not let the staff clean his room. At 9 pm, he put his room key at the reception and left", added Dr. Koosak.

Health officials and local authorities have been tracking the patient to provide him with medical care and to control the spread of the disease since Monday. They also perform active case finding and contact tracing.

According to Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong, director general of the Department of Disease Control, Nigerian patients infected by the West African clade.

"Based on disease investigations carried out with two high-risk contacts, friends of the patient who did not show any symptoms, monkeypox was not detected", he said at a press conference at the Ministry of Public Health.

“Nevertheless, they must be monitored or quarantined for 21 days. More patient searches should be carried out in risky areas such as entertainment venues they have visited. Meanwhile, the investigation team has disinfected the patient's room", he added.

It is known, that data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that there are two clades of monkeypox virus, namely the West African clade and the Congo Basin (Central Africa) clade.

"The Congo Basin Field appears to be causing more severe disease with a previously reported case fatality ratio (CFR) of around 10 percent", the WHO said on its website.

“The West African clade has in the past been associated with an overall lower CFR of about 1 percent in a generally younger population in African settings. Since 2017, several deaths of people with monkeypox in West Africa have been linked to young age or untreated HIV infection", he added.