A section of skin tissue, harvested from a lesion on the skin of a monkey, that had been infected with monkeypox virus, is seen at 50X magnification on day four of rash development in 1968. (CDC/Handout via REUTERS)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has heightened its monitoring of monkeypox in coordination with other government agencies to keep it out of the country, Health Undersecretary Abdullah Dumama said on Monday in the weekly taped “Talk to the People” briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte.
“We remind our countrymen to always adhere to minimum public health standards,” Dumama said.
According to Dumama, monkeypox is a reemerging orthopoxvirus and zoonotic disease that originated from the tropical rainforests in West and Central Africa.
The virus can be transmitted through human-to-human and animal-to-human. Its symptoms include fever, rashes, and swollen lymph nodes.
So far, the DOH has yet to report a case of monkeypox in the Philippines.
Monkeypox outbreaks have been recorded in Europe, North America, Australia, and Canada.
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