The first case of monkeypox has been detected in South Africa in a 30-year-old man who did not travel recently, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Thursday.
The man was residing in Gauteng province, home to Johannesburg and Pretoria, and was detected Wednesday by laboratory tests at the NICD, the National Health Laboratory Service division said in a statement.
The NICD said it has begun tracking contacts, identifying any additional linked cases and that major recent social events can serve as outreach events.
Since May 2022, smallpox has been reported in more than 3,000 individuals in several African countries, several European countries, the US, Canada, among others.
This is the first monkeypox outbreak in several countries and is already the largest recorded monkeypox outbreak.
Person-to-person transmission of monkeypox involves close contact with an infected person or materials that have been contaminated by an infected person. The virus is not highly transmissible and close physical contact is required for transmission.