JOHANNESBURG, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The first case of monkeypox has been detected in South Africa on a 30-year-old man who didn't travel recently, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Thursday.
The man was residing in Gauteng province, home to Johannesburg and Pretoria, and it was detected through laboratory testing at the NICD on Wednesday, the division of the National Health Laboratory Service said in a statement.
NICD said it has commenced contact tracing, identifying any additional linked cases, and recent large social events might serve as super-spreader events.
Since May 2022, monkeypox has been reported in more than 3,000 individuals from a number of African countries, several European countries, U.S., Canada, among others.
This is the first multi-country outbreak of monkeypox and is already the largest outbreak of monkeypox recorded.
Person-to-person transmission of monkeypox involves close contact with an infected person or materials that have been contaminated by an infected person. The virus is not highly transmissible and close physical contact is required for transmission. ■