The National Department of Health announced on Thursday that two more mpox cases have been confirmed in KwaZulu-Natal, bringing the total number of cases across the country to 22.
Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said two more laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox have been recorded this week.
He said available scientific data suggests that the disease is transmitting from person to person within the borders of the country.
“This increases the total number of positive cases from 20 to 22 since the outbreak of mpox in May this year; the number of deaths remains at three,” he said.
Mohale said this is despite heightened public awareness and intensive contact-tracing activities to curb the spread of the disease.
“The latest cases include a 40-year-old man diagnosed at a private health facility in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on 6 July 2024. The patient is from Johannesburg, Gauteng, but travelled to Durban over the past weekend where an mpox-like rash developed,” he said.
According to Mohale, the other case is a 26-year-old man from Nqutu in KZN who presented with a mpox-like rash at a local hospital.
He said both new cases self-identified as men who have sex with men (MSM) with no international travel history.
“We urge all the identified and suspected contacts to co-operate with health officials during contact tracing for screening and possible diagnosis to prevent further transmission of this preventable and treatable disease,” said Mohale.
The department said contact tracing and monitoring is continuing in both provinces, especially among the close contacts of the patients.
On Wednesday, “The Mercury” reported that the South African healthcare system should be on high alert as people infected with mpox may not present with lesions.
Dr Richard Lessells, an infectious-diseases specialist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform in the School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, said people may present with atypical presentations.
“For example, rectal pain, anal rectal pain, oral ulceration and oral pain – so a wide range of specialities need to have awareness of impacts and how it might present,” he said.
THE MERCURY