Metro Manila, Philippines — Two more mpox cases have been detected in the Philippines, bringing the total active cases to five, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
The DOH said the latest mpox cases were a 26-year-old female from Metro Manila and a 12-year-old male from Calabarzon.
Mpox causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. The disease is usually mild but can be fatal.
The recent infections were of the milder clade II — the same variant behind all recorded mpox cases in the country. The Philippines’ total case count for the illness is at 14.
READ: Filipinos see another health emergency on mpox. Should we be worried?
Both of them did not travel anytime three weeks before their symptoms developed. They are recovering at home as authorities monitor their health progress.
Health authorities are still determining the “exact circumstances of sample collection and the mechanism of close, intimate, and skin-to-skin contact” for the 26-year-old female case from the National Capital Region. The DOH also said “other circumstances are still being verified” for the 12-year-old male from Calabarzon.
The female patient’s symptoms started with rashes on her face and back on Aug. 20, along with a fever.
The minor patient had a fever on Aug. 10, before developing rashes mainly on the face, legs, trunk and pubic area extending to other parts of the body. The DOH said he had a cough as well as swollen lymph nodes at the groin area.
The first three cases this year were male individuals, in their 30s, and from Metro Manila.
The clade Ib offshoot of the monkeypox virus currently drives the outbreak in Africa.
