The country’s Mpox case count has risen to 24 following the detection of two more laboratory-confirmed cases in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. This update, released by the Department of Health on Sunday, comes 26 days after the last case was reported.
With the new cases, the total now stands at 24, with 12 in Gauteng, 11 in KwaZulu-Natal, and one in the Western Cape. The number of deaths linked to the disease remains at three.
The 23rd case is a 36-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal who was admitted to a Durban public health facility in late July with symptoms resembling Mpox, including a rash, fatigue, muscle pain, and fever. He does not have a history of international travel. The 24th case is a 20-year-old man from Gauteng who sought care at a private healthcare facility in Johannesburg on Friday with typical Mpox lesions. He has recently traveled to Peru, where high Mpox case numbers have been reported, though it is unclear where the exposure occurred.
The department confirmed that contact tracing and monitoring are ongoing for both cases and has urged anyone who may have been in contact with the patients to cooperate with health authorities. Of the 22 cases reported between May 8 and July 6, 19 have fully recovered. Additionally, a new batch of Tecovirimat, an antiviral medication provided by the WHO for treating Mpox, has been received.
