Key Points
- The clade 1b strain of mpox has been detected in a man in Thailand.
- Clade 1b has triggered global concern due to the ease with which it spreads through routine close contact.
- Thailand's government said it was monitoring the global situation closely.
A man detected as having a case of mpox in Thailand has the clade 1b strain of the virus, health authorities say.
The case is a 66-year-old man from a European country who arrived in Thailand last week from an unspecified African country where the disease was spreading.
Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said: "The test results confirm that he is infected with the clade 1b strain of monkeypox, which is the first case diagnosed in Thailand, but this man is likely infected from an endemic country."
He said no other local infections had been detected through contact tracing.
Clade 1b has triggered global concern due to the ease with which it spreads through routine close contact.
The World Health Organisation declared a global emergency due to a new variant of mpox. Source: AAP / Augustin Mudiayi
The World Health Organization declared the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant was identified.
Thai authorities said on Wednesday the man confirmed as having mpox had transited in a Middle Eastern country, which they also did not name, before flying on to Thailand.
Singapore's health ministry said it had detected 13 cases of mpox clade 2 infections this year.
To date, all mpox infections in the city-state have been the "less severe" clade 2 infections, the ministry said in a bulletin on Thursday.
The government said it was monitoring the global situation closely.
The health ministry said that as a precaution, it will screen the temperatures of travellers arriving at Changi and Seletar airports from places exposed to the risk of mpox outbreaks starting Friday.
With reporting by the Australian Associated Press and Reuters news agency.
