DOH still finding out where Philippines’ 4th monkeypox case got virus

The Department of Health (DOH) is still determining where the Philippines' fourth case of monkeypox got the virus, DOH officer in charge Ma. Rosario Vergeire said on Tuesday.

At the press briefing, Vergeire said the 25-year-old Filipino's 14 close contacts did not have any symptoms.

The case didn't travel to any country with confirmed monkeypox cases.

“Ito ngayon ang tinitingnan natin kasi gusto natin ma-establish kung ano yung source of infection," Vergeire said.

"So among all of these close contacts, wala tayong makita na may sintomas o di kaya exposure rin or travel abroad para masabi natin dito nanggaling yung kanyang impeksyon,” she added.

(This is what we are looking at now because we want to establish the source of infection. So among all of these close contacts, we don't see anyone with symptoms or exposure or travel abroad so we cannot say where the infection came from.)

“Hanggang sa ngayon we are still trying to investigate, trying to elicit kung saan po talaga nanggaling at maestablish yung source of infection ng fourth case na ito. We will be informing the public as soon as we get that information,” Vergeire said.

(Until now we are still trying to investigate, trying to elicit where the source of infection of this fourth case really came from. We will be informing the public as soon as we get that information.)

The DOH did not disclose the location of the fourth case. However, it said that the patient is now in isolation.

Among the 14 close contacts of the fourth case, one of them is taking care of the patient and under isolation, Vergeire said.

Of the 13 close contacts, six of them are undergoing quarantine while the remaining others “are still being verified and traced.”

Close contacts of second and third case

Vergeire said the second case, who is a 34-year-old Filipino national who had recent travel to countries with confirmed cases of monkeypox, had 18 close contacts in which 17 of them were healthcare workers.

“They were assessed by the physician and ating epidemiologist surveillance teams na low risk sila because wala silang direct physical contact and they were wearing complete PPEs during the time that they checked the patient. Isang healthcare medyo medium risk kasi siya yung nagcare sa pasyente (A healthcare worker is at medium risk because this healthcare worker takes care of the patient),” she said.

Vergeire said they all underwent self monitoring and quarantine in their home and nobody exhibited any symptoms.

For the third case, a 29-year-old Filipino national who also had recently traveled to a country with documented confirmed cases of Monkeypox, said the patient’s 17 close contacts do not exhibit any symptoms.

Thirteen of them were assessed as medium risk, while all of them are still undergoing quarantine and self monitoring.

Vergeire declined to give details about the patients, including their gender.

According to the DOH official, the 34-year-old patient’s positive PCR result was released on August 18, while the 29-year-old patient's result was released on August 19.

The DOH earlier said monkeypox is a virus transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or contaminated materials.

The first symptoms can include a fever, headaches, sharp muscle pains, fatigue, a rash, as well as swollen and painful lymph nodes, according to an Agence France-Presse explainer. —NB, GMA News