Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa (PNA photo by Joan Bondoc)
MANILA – The mpox case detected in the country is a mild variant of the virus, not similar to the variant causing fatalities in Africa.
In a statement Wednesday night, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said that the sequencing of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sample from the tenth mpox case showed it is MPXV clade II.
"We found the milder MPXV clade II in the 10th mpox case in the Philippines. Let us continue to be alert but not alarmed," he said.
Mpox is caused by the MPXV species of the orthopoxvirus genus, first discovered among laboratory primates in Denmark in 1958 and later on first observed in humans in 1970.
There are two major groups of MPXV, called "clades".
MPXV clade I has been observed mainly in the Congo basin (Central Africa), and has been described in the 1980s as having a mortality rate of ranging from 1 percent to 10 percent.
Clade I is more likely to cause severe illness and death, especially in the immunocompromised. It has two subclades: Ia, and Ib. Clade Ia is endemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with a case fatality rate of 3.6 percent.
Meanwhile, clade Ib is a new strain of MPXV responsible for the current outbreak in the DRC and nearby countries.
Earlier, the World Health Organization said "there is, as yet, insufficient information available to fully characterize mpox severity due to clade Ib as data are emerging and, so far, few deaths were recorded, precluding age-stratified analyses."
MPXV clade II has been observed mainly in West Africa. It is milder than clade I, with a mortality rate reported from less than 1 percent to 4 percent. Clade II caused the 2022 mpox global outbreak.
Recent cases of mpox detected in the country are by MPXV clade II, with zero deaths.
Herbosa urged the public to prevent the spread of mpox by avoiding close and intimate physical contact.
"Clean your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based sanitizers. Avoid skin-to-skin contact," he said.
Safety measures in schools
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the country’s basic education institutions to implement health and safety measures following the detection of the first mpox case in the Philippines this year.
While the risk of children and adolescents getting mpox is low according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Gatchalian said schools should help spread awareness and actively promote safety measures, including regular handwashing and the disinfection of classrooms and other spaces.
“Patuloy nating dapat isulong ang mga hakbang upang mapanatili ang kalinisan at kaligtasan sa ating mga paaralan at sa buong bansa, lalo na’t ang unang kaso ng mpox ngayong taon ay napatunayang hindi lumabas ng bansa, at nangangahulugang nandito lang ang virus (We must continue to promote measures to maintain cleanliness and safety in our schools and throughout the country, especially since the first case of mpox this year proved not to have left the country, and that means the virus is here),” he said.
Gatchalian also pushed for the passage of Senate Bill 1869 or Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control Act.
The bill seeks to create the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which will serve as the technical authority on forecasting, analysis, strategy, and standards development for the prevention and control of all diseases of public health importance and health security events. (with a report from Leonel Abasola/PNA)
