Jakarta – The Health Ministry has stated that 88 cases of mpox were detected in the country over the last two years until Independence Day, and that the majority of patients had recovered from the disease.

Yudhi Pramono, the interim director general of disease control and prevention at the Health Ministry, said most of these cases were detected between 2022 and 2024, with the greatest number reported in October 2023.

"Between 2022 and today, the fatality rate has been low and the majority of transmissions occurred through sexual contact," Yudhi said on Monday, as quoted by Antara.

The ministry's data show that Jakarta recorded the majority of cases with 59, followed by West Java in a distant second with nine cases.

Indonesia recorded its first confirmed mpox case in August 2022, in a 27-year-old male Jakarta resident who had contracted the virus overseas.

Also on Monday, the Philippines Department of Health (DOH) said it had detected a new mpox case in the country, the first since December last year, and that it was awaiting test results to determine the strain.

The case involved a 33-year-old Filipino male who had no history of traveling outside the Philippines, according to the DOH.

Last week, the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak in Central Africa a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), sounding its highest possible alarm over the worsening situation, AFP reported.

The United Nations health agency also convened a meeting of experts to study the outbreak over concerns about the rise in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the virus's spread to nearby countries.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2024/08/19/ministry-records-88-mpox-cases-since-2022.htm