Thailand has become the second country outside Africa to confirm cases of the new, more dangerous type of MPOX.
According to health authorities, a 66-year-old man who travelled to Thailand from Bakauva, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week tested positive for lineage 1b MPOX.
“Test results confirmed that (the patient) is infected with monkeypox lineage 1b. This is the first case diagnosed in Thailand but it is likely the man acquired the infection in an endemic country,” said Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, director-general of the Department of Disease Control.
At least 43 passengers who were seated near the infected person on the flight are currently being monitored for symptoms, the agency added.
Data uploaded today to GISAID, an international database built to track dangerous pathogens, revealed that the case had MPOX lesions on the tip of the penis, suggesting the virus was transmitted sexually.
They also confirmed that the samples collected belong to the MPOX 1b lineage, which is distinct from lineage 2, a milder, less contagious variant that spread primarily among gay men in 2022.
The data was submitted to GISAID by Dr Pirairuk Okada, a microbiologist at Thailand's National Influenza Center, who is said to be the first person outside China to submit a COVID-19 sequence to the database.
