KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has denied a claim going viral on social media that a Malaysian in Singapore has contracted monkeypox.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement today, said it was false news and insisted there was no monkeypox infection detected in the country.
“No Malaysian has been reported by Singapore’s Health Ministry to have contracted the disease.
“The Health Ministry once again reiterated that no incidence of monkeypox case was detected or reported in Malaysia. People are reminded not to spread false information or news that could cause social anxiety,” he said.
Recently, the monkeypox incidence which allegedly occurred in Johor and Kuala Lumpur went viral on social media.
On May 9, Singapore confirmed an imported case of monkeypox infection involving a 38-year-old Nigerian attending a workshop in the republic on April 28.
Earlier, Johor Health, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said no monkeypox infection has been detected and reported in the state.
However, he said, the Johor State Health Department had taken precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease by increasing surveillance activities at all of Johor’s entrance, especially monitoring people with a history of visiting Nigeria.
Monkeypox virus can spread to humans through bites or direct contact with animal blood or body fluids and infected animal wounds.
The virus can also be transmitted through direct contact with infected body fluids of infected persons or with virus-contaminated objects, such as bedding or clothing.
Signs and symptoms of infection are fever, fatigue, headache and a maculopapular rash that starts on the face and then spreads to the palms and soles of the feet, followed by other parts of the body. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for monkeypox infection. – Bernama
