Health Ministry Confirms 3 People Exposed to First Monkeypox Patient are Healthy

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Health Ministry confirmed that three residents of Depok, West Java Province, and Tangerang, Banten Province, who had come in close contact with the first confirmed monkeypox patient in Indonesia, were in good health.

"There were three people, who came in close contact, so testing and surveillance were also conducted (on them). (It turned out that) all of them are healthy. None (of them) has been tested positive, had symptoms, or (were) suspected of (having contracted) monkeypox," the ministry's spokesperson, Mohammad Syahril, noted in a virtual press conference monitored here on Friday.

The three people comprised two Depok residents, a 38-year-old female and a 24-year-old male -- who were family members of the patient -- as well as a 24-year-old male friend of the patient from Tangerang.

The first confirmed patient for monkeypox in Indonesia was a 27-year-old man from Jakarta, who had earlier travelled to the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and France before being exposed to the disease.

The patient started to experience monkeypox symptoms on August 11, 2022, and was treated by health workers, starting August 18, 2022, by taking samples from lesions on his body to be examined at the Health Ministry’s Center for Health Development Policy (BKPK).

On August 19, 2022, the patient was confirmed positive for monkeypox according to the results of laboratory test as well as started to undergo treatment and self-isolation.

The spokesperson said that currently, the patient has recovered, and it was ensured that he is not in a state wherein he could transmit the monkeypox virus to those around him since the lesions on his body had dried up.

"Because the symptoms were mild, on September 4, 2022, the (his) isolation had been (declared) complete. Currently, he has been able to carry out his activities like before. It means that the patient has been declared healthy," he noted.

To date, the ministry has recorded a total of 66 suspected monkeypox cases. Based on the results of laboratory tests, 63 cases were confirmed negative, one case was confirmed positive, while two others were still under examination.

The cases were reported from several provinces across Indonesia, such as Riau, Lampung, Banten, Jakarta, Riau Islands, West Java, South Sulawesi, Central Java, Central Sulawesi, and East Java.

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) dashboard accessed on Saturday (September 17, 2022) 10:48 a.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB), the number of global confirmed monkeypox cases had reached 60,841 in 104 countries. The outbreak has claimed 23 lives.

"Currently, there is a significant increase (in the number of monkeypox cases) in the Southern American countries," Syahril pointed out.

ANTARA

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