First monkeypox case in Indonesia confirmed; patient from abroad

An individual who had recently returned from an unnamed nation that had documented occurrences of monkeypox was the source of Indonesia’s first verified case of the disease, according to a representative for the country’s Ministry of Health who made the announcement on Saturday (Aug 20).

A positive test was conducted on the 27-year-old guy in the capital city of Jakarta late on Friday, according to a representative who spoke at a news conference.

The Indonesian native, who is believed to be “doing well” and is exhibiting only mild symptoms, is currently self-isolating at home, according to the spokesman, who did not disclose where the patient had originated from.

“We have followed up with tracing of close contacts and will check up on them,” he added, adding that the government is in the process of acquiring somewhere about 10,000 vaccines for monkeypox at this time.

The Ministry of Health is encouraging everyone to be calm and has reminded the general public that monkeypox can be treated. To this point, it has tested 22 possible cases from around the country, and all of the results have come back negative.

A localized case of monkeypox was reported for the first time in neighboring Singapore last month, and the country has since confirmed 15 further cases. In addition, there have been confirmed instances in the Philippines and Thailand, both of which are located in Southeast Asia.

There have been over 40,000 documented cases of monkeypox, including a number of fatalities, in over 80 countries where the virus is not endemic. As a result, the World Health Organization has declared a worldwide health emergency.