Second MPox Death Confirmed in South Africa, Total Cases Rise to Six

South African Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, has confirmed that the Mpox, formerly referred to as monkeypox, has killed a second individual.

The announcement was made within a day of the government briefing the nation on measures taken to contain the spread of the contagious disease.

The department stated that the deceased was a 38-year-old male patient, who was admitted at a local hospital in uMgungundlovu, KwaZulu-Natal.

The patient was confirmed with Mpox on Wednesday after they developed extensive lesions, lymphadenopathy, headache, fatigue, oral ulcers, muscle pain, and sore throat.

It has been a sad day for the patient that he reduces in KwaZulu-Natal the same day his test appeared positive, the statement said on Thursday.

It has been reported that the deceased was an HIV patient, and had lived in Brakpan, a town in the Gauteng province of South Africa.

Read Also: Severe Weather Prompts South Africa to Declare National Disaster in Three Provinces

This has raised the total number of cases within the country from five to six and two deaths in a space of five weeks.

“At present, the department is collaborating with the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal Departments of Health to conduct an investigation on the subject. The additional updates and reports will be off limits until the investigation has been completed.”

The department has also urged patients to avoid contact with immunocompromised people, pregnant women and children, as they might be at high risk of severe symptoms if exposed to the virus.