The Department of Health (DOH) said it is still confirming the source of infection of the Philippines' fourth case of monkeypox — a 25-year-old Filipino with no travel history to or from any country with documented confirmed cases of the virus.
"We cannot say for now that this is already a local transmission because we are still establishing the source of the infection," said DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in an interview.
"We are still trying to establish and back trace as to where he got the infection," she added.
On Monday, the DOH said the fourth case was tested and confirmed positive of the disease last August 19, 2022 and is currently admitted in an isolation facility. They were able to identify 14 close contacts of the patient.
Vergeire said the national government is now talking to two monkeypox vaccine manufacturers for the country to receive its first doses.
"Please remember that we do not do mass vaccination for monkeypox. We’re just going to vulnerable sectors and we are prioritizing those who had been exposed and also our health care worker," she said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the infectious disease as a "global health emergency."
The viral disease – which spreads via close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions – has been spreading chiefly in men who have sex with men in the recent outbreak, outside Africa where it is endemic.
