KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 27 April) — Health units in South Cotabato are under heightened alert following the province’s first confirmed case of Monkeypox (Mpox). The South Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) received confirmation from the Department of Health (DOH)-Center for Health Development Socsksargen (Region 12) that a resident tested positive for the Mpox Clade II variant. The patient is stable, recovering, and under close monitoring by local health authorities. Among two suspected Mpox cases reported on April 23, the confirmed case is from South Cotabato, while the other, a resident of Cotabato province, sought medical care within the province. Samples from both patients were sent to the DOH’s Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for testing. The Cotabato patient has been discharged and is completing isolation protocols in their hometown. The IPHO is monitoring close contacts and coordinating with health offices across the province’s 10 towns and lone city. Public health measures, including hand hygiene, surface disinfection, avoiding crowded areas, and reporting symptoms, have been activated. South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. urged residents to follow health protocols and assured that the provincial health system is equipped and prepared to handle the disease, building on its success in combating COVID-19. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
