The latest case of mpox in the Philippines is the clade II variant, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

In a message to reporters, DOH reaffirmed the earlier statement of Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa that the 10th mpox case in the Philippines is clade II.

“Case 10 is Clade II,” DOH said, following direct reports Herbosa received from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

DOH has confirmed that the most recent mpox case in the country is caused by clade II. This clade, which caused the outbreaks in 2022, is known to be milder than clade I.

READ: 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/17/mpox-what-is-it-and-how-concerned-should-you-be

In an interview with ANC Headstart, Herbosa said that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox anew as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) due to the detection of clade 1B.

“So nag-release sila ng another warning, that's basically a warning to all Departments of Health and all Ministries of Health, mag-ingat kayo may bagong mpox na kumakalat (So, they released another warning, which is basically a warning to all Departments of Health and all Ministries of Health: be cautious, there’s a new mpox spreading),” Herbosa said.

“They call it clade 1B. So it's a different variety, and we were lucky because this mpox we found [in the Philippines] was the original variety, clade II,” he added.

Mpox Case 10

On Aug. 19, DOH confirmed detecting a new mpox case in the Philippines days after the WHO declared the viral disease a PHEIC.

READ: 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/19/doh-detects-new-mpox-case-in-the-philippines

DOH said the latest case is the “10th laboratory-confirmed mpox case” in the country.

Unlike the severe strain causing global concern, case 10—the first mpox case reported in the Philippines this year—is considered a mild variant, as it has been confirmed by the DOH to belong to clade II.

The latest case of mpox in the Philippines involved a 33-year-old male Filipino national. He had no travel history outside the Philippines but had close, intimate contact three weeks before the onset of symptoms.

The DOH said the symptoms began more than a week ago with fever, followed four days later by a distinct rash on the face, back, nape, trunk, groin, as well as the palms and soles.

DOH said the latest mpox case was seen in a government hospital, where specimens were collected from the skin lesions and tested via real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

The PCR test results were positive for monkeypox viral DNA, DOH added.

Herbosa explained that since December 2023, DOH has not identified any other mpox patients.

According to DOH, four mpox cases were detected in the Philippines in 2022, the first time the WHO declared mpox a PHEIC.

In 2023, DOH reported that five cases of mpox were detected: one in May, one in July, and three in December.

“Because it is very mild, all 9 cases have recovered. All 9 of the previous cases have recovered, and no one has died. So it is actually a mild disease, the previous one,” Herbosa added.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/6/9/doh-reports-no-mpox-deaths-in-the-philippines

Not like Covid

During a meeting with President Marcos on Aug. 20, DOH also explained that mpox does not pose an epidemic threat like Covid-19 and is less contagious.

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