The Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla says a case of Monkeypox has been confirmed via a laboratory test in Gauteng.

In a statement issued on Monday, he called for vigilance after the 35-year-old Gauteng man tested positive last week.

Department spokesperson Foster Mohale says the sample was first tested by the Lancet Laboratory and later confirmed by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD)

He says although the virus is not highly transmissible from person to person it has increased in global health significance and can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.

Mohale says the patient has no travel history to countries experiencing an outbreak.

He says the National and Gauteng Departments of Health are doing contract tracing.

The disease is mainly spread through sexual contact and presents as an acute illness characterised by fever and general flu-like symptoms.

SOURCE:Patients tests positive for Monkeypox in Gauteng (algoafm.co.za)