The Health Bureau (SSM) announced in a statement late last night that Macau recorded its first Mpox case yesterday.
Previously, the viral illness was known as monkeypox.
According to the statement, the patient is a 29-year-old unemployed local man. He came down with a fever on September 16, before developing lymphadenopathy, a rash all over his body, and blisters on Tuesday last week, the statement said.
The man sought treatment at the private Kiang Wu Hospital on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday last week, but his symptoms still persisted, the statement said.
The statement said that the patient sought treatment at the emergency department of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre on Monday, where he was diagnosed with Mpox after his skin pus swab tested positive for the monkeypox virus.
According to the statement, the patient is in a stable condition in isolation treatment.
The case was reported to the Health Bureau yesterday.
The statement said that the patient had engaged in high-risk sexual practices during the incubation period in Macau. However, according to the statement, the patient told the Macau Health Bureau that he did not engage in high-risk sexual practices when he was visiting Hong Kong and Zhuhai, neither had he engaged in such activities after coming down with Mpox symptoms.
The Health Bureau is still identifying the man’s close contacts and the source of his infection, the statement said.
The statement noted that previously Mpox had primarily been prevalent in Africa, before the disease started spreading quickly in Europe and North America in May last year. MPox infections have now been reported in various countries and regions worldwide, the statement said.
Hong Kong reported its first Mpox case in September last year.
The Macau Health Bureau began earlier this month to provide free Mpox jabs for local residents with a high infection risk.
Undated file photo of a Mpox patient’s hands. – Photo courtesy of UCLA Health
