INDONESIA- Indonesia has reported its first case of monkeypox in a 27-year-old male returning from a trip abroad, according to the country’s health ministry.

Mohammad Syahril, a spokeswoman for Indonesia’s health ministry, stated that the patient had “high awareness and knowledge of the disease.”

A week after arriving in Indonesia on August 8, the patient had fever and rashes. The ministry spokeswoman refused to disclose the country from which the man had traveled to.

“So, when he got the symptoms, he immediately checked it with the doctor. The result came back positive within a day,” Syahril said, adding that the individual was now being held in isolation in Jakarta.

Cases of monkeypox have been reported from countries where the illness is not endemic since early May 2022, and continue to be reported in other endemic nations.

Singapore reported the first incidence of monkeypox last month and had confirmed 15 cases as of August 5. Cases have also been confirmed in the Philippines and Thailand in Southeast Asia.

The majority of confirmed patients with a travel history traveled to Europe and North America, rather than West or Central Africa, where the monkeypox virus is widespread.

This is the first time that a large number of monkeypox cases and clusters have been recorded concurrently in non-endemic and endemic nations across vast geographical areas.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus epidemic an emergency, a designation reserved for the most serious infections.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus epidemic an emergency, a designation reserved for the most serious infections.

WHO is working with health officials to prevent the sickness from spreading further.

They are giving recommendations to assist countries with surveillance, laboratory work, clinical care, infection prevention and control, risk communication, and community engagement in order to educate communities at risk and the general public about monkeypox and how to stay safe.

The UN agency is also collaborating closely with African countries, regional organizations, and technical and financial partners to strengthen laboratory diagnosis, disease surveillance, readiness, and response steps to avoid future infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends two vaccines that may be used for the prevention of monkeypox disease: JYNNEOS vaccine which is approved for the prevention of monkeypox and smallpox disease.

ACAM2000 vaccine which is approved for immunization against smallpox disease and made available for use against monkeypox under an Expanded Access Investigational New Drug (EA-IND) protocol.

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