Health minister Joe Phaahla is on Friday giving an update on monkeypox in SA.
On Monday afternoon Phaahla announced a 28-year-old man had been diagnosed with the virus. The patient had returned to SA after a trip to Spain in the second week of August.
The national health department said a polymerase chain reaction test was performed in a private pathology laboratory and the samples were submitted to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases for sequencing analysis.
“Public health response measures to prevent the spread of the infection, including contact tracing, have been instituted,” it said.
“The fourth case follows three unlinked laboratory-confirmed cases that were reported from Gauteng, Western Cape and Limpopo provinces. These cases were reported in males aged 30, 32 and 42, who have since completed self-isolation and monitoring period without reported further symptoms and health complications.”
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