3 more monkeypox cases bring total in Singapore to 9

A 31-year-old Filipino tested positive for monkeypox yesterday, the fifth such local case to date.

This brings the total number of cases detected here to nine, comprising five local and four imported cases. None has been linked to another.

In updates on monkeypox on its website, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said the man developed a fever last Thursday, and then rashes on his face and body.

He sought medical care at Singapore General Hospital on Sunday and was admitted on the same day.

His condition is stable, with contact tracing ongoing.

This comes after two men - a 46-year-old male Estonian and a 26-year-old Singaporean male - tested positive for the disease on Sunday.

Both were admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases and are in stable condition.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday declared monkeypox a global health emergency, with more than 16,000 cases confirmed in 70 countries and territories worldwide.

It is the strongest call to action that the global organisation can make, signalling a new sense of urgency and the scale of a disease that had previously been primarily found in western and central Africa.

Covid-19 was given the same label back in 2020.

In a statement to The Straits Times on whether Singapore will change its domestic or border restrictions following the WHO's decision, MOH said the authorities have already put in place the majority of WHO-recommended monkeypox measures since May.

These include protocols for isolating confirmed cases and quarantining close contacts for 21 days from the date of exposure.

Lower-risk contacts are put on phone surveillance for 21 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus.

MOH said the healthcare system has the expertise and capability to effectively test, diagnose and treat monkeypox infections. It has been engaging those who are more at risk, whom studies have shown are mostly men who have sex with men.

Professor Roy Chan, founder and president of non-profit organisation Action for Aids, said it is important to raise awareness of the infection in the gay and bisexual community without making moral judgment, so that those who are infected feel safe to seek treatment when symptoms surface.

He said: "We don't want to stigmatise the disease, stigmatise the people who are potentially infected. Otherwise, it is driven underground and that is where the threat lies."

A study published in The New England Journal Of Medicine last week said transmission in 95 per cent of monkeypox cases was through sexual activity. The disease is, however, not a sexually transmitted infection in the traditional sense as it can also be passed via close physical contact.

Professor Dale Fisher, who is on the WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, noted that the impact of monkeypox is unlikely to be on the same scale as that of Covid-19.

Monkeypox is unlikely to impact international trade and is not overly lethal, with five deaths out of 16,000 cases, said Prof Fisher, a senior consultant at National University Hospital's division of infectious diseases.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post yesterday that each monkeypox case so far typically generates three to four close contacts who require quarantine - unlike Covid-19, which may generate up to 20 quarantine orders.

The ministry is closely monitoring developments, he said.

"As of now, given the self-limiting nature of the disease, MOH does not recommend the mass vaccination of the whole population against monkeypox because the benefits do not outweigh the risk," he added.

Monkeypox symptoms include rashes, fever, muscle aches, chills and swollen lymph nodes.