KUALA LUMPUR - The Health Ministry (MOH) today confirmed one case of monkeypox involving a Malaysian residing in Singapore, which was detected on Wednesday.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the 45-year-old man was in Johor Bahru on June 11 and 12 and travelled to Penang from June 17 to 20.
From July 2 to 3, the man once again travelled to Johor Bahru and had already started showing symptoms, he added.
"The ministry has conducted an investigation and the individual voluntarily informed us of his close contacts.
"So far, 15 close contacts have been identified, 14 of whom are casual contacts who are at low risk of getting monkeypox infection because they are asymptomatic.
"Another close contact has been identified by Singapore’s Health Ministry and is currently undergoing quarantine in the country. We are still investigating the cause of infection,” he told a press conference at Parliament Building here.
Khairy said the 14 casual contacts had been informed to conduct health screening, adding that the ministry would continue to monitor to ensure there were no further infections.
He also said that the MOH would work with Singapore’s Health Ministry in completing the investigation into the case and any new information obtained would be shared with the respective country's Focal Points.
In a related development, he said five suspected monkeypox cases were reported in Malaysia as of yesterday but none has been confirmed positive for the disease. - BERNAMA