Thailand’s sixth monkeypox patient says symptoms started while she was in Qatar
A young woman in Thailand’s northeast province of Maha Sarakham is the kingdom’s sixth confirmed monkeypox patient, the Department for Disease and Control (DDC) announced yesterday. The 21 year old woman says her symptoms started while she was in Qatar for work.
The woman had worked as a masseuse in Qatar and said that while she was there, she started getting blisters on her private parts on August 10.
The woman returned home to Thailand on Sunday, August 21. She was admitted to a hospital the next day. The DDC’s director-general Dr Opas Karnkawinpong said the lab result on August 24 confirmed that the woman had monkeypox.
He noted that four people who were in contact with the woman are considered highly at risk for monkeypox, and another 24 people are considered at risk. Dr Orpas has advised them to isolate for 21 days.
Thailand’s fifth case of monkeypox was confirmed earlier this month, in a rather similar story. The patient was a 25 year old Thai woman who was thought to have started displaying symptoms in Dubai before travelling to Thailand, according to Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
Airport staff noticed that the 25 year old woman looked unwell and had blisters on her body when she arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport on August 14, so they took her to the airport’s quarantine facility, said Anutin.
Thailand’s first monkeypox case is a 27 year old Nigerian man in Phuket, the second case in a Thai man in Bangkok, the third case in a German tourist in Phuket, and the fourth in a Thai woman in Samut Prakan.
As of yesterday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a total of 47,652 monkeypox cases across the globe.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post | CDC
