PETALING JAYA: There is low risk of 14 Malaysian casual contacts of a Singapore monkeypox patient getting the disease, says the health ministry.
So far, the casual contacts are asymptomatic, said health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
A 15th person, said to be a close contact identified by the Singapore health ministry, is currently undergoing quarantine in the country.
“We are still investigating the cause of infection,” Khairy told a press conference here, Bernama reported.
Khairy said the person with monkeypox, a Malaysian living in Singapore, was confirmed on Wednesday.
He said the 45-year-old man was in Johor Bahru on June 11-12. He was also in Penang from June 17-20, and in Johor Bahru again on July 2-3, by which time he started showing symptoms.
Khairy said the 14 casual contacts in Malaysia had been informed to conduct health screening. The ministry would continue to monitor them to ensure there were no further infections.
He also said his ministry would work closely with Singapore in completing investigations into the case.
Khairy said before this, five suspected monkeypox cases had been reported in Malaysia, but none had been confirmed positive for the disease.