Thailand has reported its first case of Monkeypox, in an air passenger travelling from Europe who stopped over at an international airport in Bangkok for about two hours prior to transiting onto a flight to Australia, where he later developed symptoms, according to the Disease Control Department.
12 crew members and passengers on the same flight, who were in close contact with the infected traveller, have now been quarantined in Thailand for seven days, adding that none of them have shown any symptoms associated with monkeypox, but they will be isolated for 21 days to ensure they are safe, according to Head of the Bureau of Epidemiology Dr. Chakkarat Pittayawonganon.
Lab tests on five tourists in Phuket, including three brothers from Ireland, who were initially thought to be infected with monkeypox after they developed blisters, show that they were infected with herpes, said Dr. Chakkarat, not monkeypox.
He added that background checks on the three brothers show that they have not been in close contact with anyone infected with monkeypox.
Regarding precautionary measures against monkeypox, he said that a suspected monkeypox patient has been defined as someone with blisters on their face and body with a history of close contact with an infected person in the past 21 days, has travelled from a country where there is an outbreak of the disease, has a history of engaging in activities with the infected or has shared the same room with someone who is infected.
Dr. Chakkarat said that suspected cases will be subjected to tests, background risk checks, disease investigation, treatment and quarantine until it is proved that they are clear of the disease.
The infected will be given treatment and isolated for 21 days after diagnosis.
Worldwide, there were 406 confirmed cases and 88 suspected cases in 32 countries between May 7th and May 29th.
