Gabon has reported its first case of mpox in a man who had returned from a trip to Uganda, its health ministry said.
Cases of the infectious disease, formerly known as monkeypox, have been surging in East Africa but have also been detected in Asia and Europe.
The ministry said in a statement Thursday that the 30-year-old, who lives in Gabon, had “returned from a two-week trip to Uganda, which the epidemic has impacted.”
“The patient is in a good state generally… and has been put in isolation,” it added.
The health ministry said the country was on “maximum alert” for the virus and was “reinforcing its preparations against mpox coming into Gabon.”
It added that it was also preparing a “nationwide surveillance and testing system”.
Mpox is a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals that can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
While mpox has been known for decades, a new, more deadly, and more transmissible strain—Clade 1b—has driven the recent surge in cases.
Clade 1b causes death in about 3.6 per cent of cases, with children more at risk, according to the World Health Organisation, which has declared an international health emergency over the latest outbreak.