Thailand says mpox case recorded in traveler from Africa

Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, head of Thailand鈥檚 Department of Disease Control, said the patient man had transited in a Middle Eastern country before flying on to Thailand. (AFP)
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  • Thai authorities were treating the case as if it were the Clade 1 form of mpox
  • Thailand has detected 800 cases of mpox Clade 2 since 2022, but so far not detected a case of the Clade 1 or Clade 1b variants

BANGKOK: Thailand has detected an mpox case in a European man who arrived from Africa last week and is awaiting test results to determine the strain, a disease control official said on Wednesday.
Thai authorities were treating the case as if it were the Clade 1 form of mpox, as the person, a 66-year-old European man with residency in Thailand had arrived on Aug. 14 from an African country where it was spreading, Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said.
鈥淎fter he arrives from the flight there is very little time frame where he come into contact with others,鈥� Thongchai said. 鈥淗e arrives around 6 p.m. and on the next day, Aug 15, he went to see the doctor at the hospital.鈥�
Thongchai said the man has undergone a test to determine whether the case was a Clade 1 variant, with the result expected by Friday. Authorities are also monitoring 43 people in the country who may come into contact with the patient, he said.
The director-general did not name the African country the man had been in. He said the man had transited in a Middle Eastern country, which he also did not name, before flying on to Thailand.
Thailand has detected 800 cases of mpox Clade 2 since 2022, but so far not detected a case of the Clade 1 or Clade 1b variants.