Hong Kong discovers first case of monkeypox

Hong Kong discovers first case of monkeypox. Hong Kong has reported its first case of monkeypox, health authorities said on Tuesday, after symptoms were discovered in a 30-year old man who arrived from the Phillippines after travelling in the United States and Canada.

It marks the first imported case in Hong Kong of monkeypox, a viral disease which the World Health Organisation has declared a global health emergency.

The Chinese special administrative region, like the mainland, has not had any local local monkeypox cases.

Monkeypox typically causes mild symptoms including fever, aches and skin lesions.

Hong Kong’s government will raise the response level for the monkeypox outbreak to an “alert” level, health authorities told a media briefing on Tuesday.

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More than 90 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks, as confirmed cases crossed 52,700 and non-endemic countries reported their first related deaths.

Hong Kong’s government is expected to procure a vaccine against monkeypox this month and said it has stepped up surveillance for the virus amongst travellers and within the local community.

A second monkeypox strain has been identified in the UK, linked with travel to west Africa, public health officials have said.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), an individual who had recently travelled to west Africa has been admitted to the high consequence infectious diseases (HCID) unit at the Royal Liverpool University hospital in Merseyside with the strain.

Contact tracing is being conducted to establish if there are any further linked cases. Monkeypox is endemic in animals in parts of west Africa and has caused outbreaks in humans there.

“Preliminary genomic sequencing conducted by UKHSA indicates that this case does not have the current outbreak strain circulating in the UK,” the agency said.