NewsDesk @bactiman63

Hong Kong

Hong Kong health officials reports investigating investigating an imported Mpox (also known as Monkeypox) case which is related to a confirmed case announced yesterday (April 20).

Image/CDC

The imported case involves a 25-year-old male patient with good past health who has not received Mpox vaccination. He had developed myalgia and rash over his body since early April. He consulted a general practitioner on April 15 with preliminary diagnosis of chickenpox. He is a close contact of a confirmed Mpox case (involving a 34-year-old male) announced yesterday. He was identified as a suspected imported case yesterday and was arranged to be admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital for further testing. The Center for Health Protection (CHP’s) Public Health Laboratory Services Branch today confirmed that his samples tested positive for the virus. He is now in stable condition.

According to the patient, he has recent travel history to Mpox-affected areas including Korea and Taiwan from March 26 to April 5. His high risk exposure during the incubation period is under investigation. The CHP is arranging two household contacts of the patient to undergo quarantine at hospital and receive post-exposure vaccination. They remained asymptomatic so far. The CHP’s epidemiological investigations of the case are ongoing.

The case announced yesterday is now reclassified as import-related Mpox case. A total of three imported Mpox cases and one import-related case have been recorded since September last year.

Taiwan

The Taiwan CDC announced this week 15 new confirmed cases of monkeypox (Mpox) in the country (13 local cases and 2 imported cases).

The 13 local cases are all males of their own nationality, 12 cases in the north and 1 case in the south, aged between their 20s and 40s. They developed fever, swollen lymph glands, and blisters from March 26 to April 16. Symptoms such as pustules, pustules, and rashes, and went to the hospital for medical treatment. After being evaluated by the doctor, they were tested and reported, and they were diagnosed from April 11 to April 17. The two imported cases (Malaysia and Japan) were in their 20s from the north. Both foreign nationals and males with nationalities in their 30s in the south had a history of overseas activities before the diagnosis, and gradually developed symptoms after returning to Taiwan.

According to the epidemic investigation, 19 high-risk contacts have received health education and self-health monitoring for 21 days, and the other 5 non-high-risk contacts have been given general health education to pay attention to their own symptoms.

The Department of Disease Control and Prevention stated that my country has listed Mpox as a second-class legal infectious disease since June 23, 2022. As of today, a total of 40 cases have been diagnosed (31 local cases and 9 cases imported from abroad), of which 9 cases were hospitalized. Among them, 7 cases are under self-health management at home, and the remaining 24 cases have recovered.

South Korea

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 2 additional patients (#19, #20) have occurred since the 18th Mpox confirmed case in Korea on April 18.

The 19th patient was a Korean living in Gyeonggi-do, and reported to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1339) due to skin lesions. Due to a history of risk exposure within 3 weeks before the first symptom onset, it was determined as a confirmed patient after examination.

The 20th patient is a Korean living in Chungbuk. He had suspected symptoms such as skin lesions, so he contacted the public health center . He had a   history of exposure within 3 weeks before the first symptoms occurred , so he was diagnosed as a confirmed patient after testing.

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The newly confirmed patients are currently being hospitalized in isolation beds, and their overall condition is good. Both patients have no history of overseas travel within 3 weeks of the first symptom onset, so detailed epidemiological investigations are being conducted on the route of infection and contacts, including risk exposure in Korea.

Japan

The Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) reports 98 cumulative monkeypox cases in 2023 as of April 12.

Tokyo accounted for 80 of the cases, followed by eight in Osaka.

On July 25, 2022, the first case of monkeypox in Japan was reported in Tokyo. Japan reported only eight cases in 2022.