A young man who has just arrived back in Hong Kong has been confirmed as the city’s first monkeypox case and is undergoing treatment in isolation at Queen Mary Hospital, according to a medical source.
The source said the man reported feeling unwell on Monday while under hotel quarantine, and had developed symptoms related to monkeypox such as a rash.
He was sent to hospital and tested positive for the disease. Health authorities had classified him as an imported case, the source added.
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The insider said the patient was a Hongkonger returning from a trip to Canada.
Rolling out their latest prevention strategy against monkeypox on Friday, health authorities said close contacts of confirmed cases would soon be able to get vaccinated against the disease.
The government has also reserved quarantine facilities for them as authorities step up measures to guard against any possible outbreak in the city.
Monkeypox vaccine will be available in Hong Kong within the month
The government revealed that the first shipment of the jabs would arrive in the city within this month as it was finalising negotiations with a vaccine manufacturer.
The World Health Organization has recorded more than 52,000 monkeypox cases, including 18 deaths, after declaring a global health emergency over the disease in late July.
The disease, which is passed on through close contact and was first found in monkeys, mostly occurs in west and central Africa and only occasionally spreads elsewhere.
It is related to the deadly smallpox virus, which was eradicated in 1980.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Monkeypox vaccine will be available for close contacts and vulnerable groups in Hong Kong within the month
- Italian man diagnosed with Covid-19, monkeypox and HIV in a single day
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