The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has confirmed the seventh case of monkeypox in Thailand.
Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the DDC, yesterday said the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute (Bidi) reported the latest monkeypox case on Saturday.
"The patient is a 37-year-old Thai woman who lives alone in Bangkok," Dr Opas said. "According to the interview, she did not visit any country where monkeypox is widespread nor have contact with rodents."
However, Bidi said she visited an entertainment venue popular among foreign tourists three weeks before her infection.
Also, it is reported that she had been in close contact with a foreign man before she began showing symptoms.
Dr Opas said she had a mild fever on Aug 20 and red bumps began appearing the next day. On Aug 22, she developed more blisters on her hands, arms, face and private parts.
She was hospitalised at Bidi on Aug 26. Medical staff had collected samples and run a real-time polymerase chain reaction test before confirming she had monkeypox.
Dr Opas said she had visited an elder relative, resulting in three people being placed under monitoring. Her incubation period will end on Sept 11, said Dr Opas.
Thailand's sixth monkeypox patient was detected on Aug 24, according to the DDC.
The patient is a 21-year-old woman who worked in a massage parlour in Qatar. She developed blisters in her genital area when she was abroad. Later, she returned to her northeastern hometown of Maha Sarakham province. She was admitted to Phayakkhaphum Phisai Hospital on Aug 22.
Dr Opas said that 28 people had close contact with the patient and the department asked them to monitor their symptoms.
