South Africa registers first death from mpox

South Africa’s health minister, Joe Phaahla, has announced the country’s first confirmed death from Mpox. The victim, a 37-year-old man, succumbed to the virus on Monday after being hospitalized in Gauteng province for three days.

Phaahla revealed that all five cases reported in the country this year, including one in Gauteng and three in KwaZulu-Natal, were severe and required hospitalization.

The patients, all men aged 30 to 39, had not traveled to countries experiencing outbreaks, indicating local transmission. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, spreads through close contact, with symptoms ranging from fever and headaches to rash and muscle pain. While the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency over an Mpox outbreak in 2022, sporadic cases persist.

Phaahla emphasized the importance of seeking medical attention for suspected symptoms and tracing contacts. Of the diagnosed patients, two have been discharged, while two remain hospitalized. Close contacts of the deceased will undergo a 21-day monitoring period. Mpox was first reported in humans in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970 and remains endemic there, according to the WHO.