Pretoria - A case of monkeypox has been discovered in Limpopo, confirmed by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).
In a statement yesterday provincial Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba confirmed that a 42-year-old male tourist from Switzerland who is on holiday in Limpopo presented with signs and symptoms such as a rash, lymphadenopathy, muscle ache and fatigue.
Ramathuba called for calm amid the announcement saying there should not be panic.
She said: “We are calling for calm. We can confirm that the case is an outpatient, currently isolating and requires no admission.”
Ramathuba said the department had already sent officials to follow through the case.
“Three contacts have already been identified and none of them have developed signs thus far,” she said
“The department wishes to encourage all people who interact with a lot of people in their line of work to continue wearing of masks even though the Covid-19 protocols have been relaxed.”
This comes after the institute confirmed the first case in Gauteng last month where it was detected in a 30-year-old male who had no recent travel history.
A second case is also a male from the Western Cape.
There have been 4000 people from various countries since May reported to have caught the disease.
The countries the virus has been detected in include USA, Canada, Australia, Morocco, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
Pretoria News