Head of the disease control department Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn said on Wednesday that the 66-year-old patient entered Thailand on Aug. 14 from an unidentified African country.
Thongchai told Reuters that authorities are treating the case as if it were a clade 1 variant of Mpox, which appears to spread more easily and is raising global concerns.
The infected person is in isolation at a hospital and further tests are being conducted to identify the strain. Thongchai said the man flew to Thailand via a Middle Eastern country (which he also did not name).
Thailand has detected 800 cases of Mpox clade 2 since 2022, but no cases of clade 1 or clade 1b variants so far.
The World Health Organization (WHO), while declaring Mpox a global public health emergency, noted that much is already known about the virus and the means to combat it, and said this outbreak is not a second COVID-19 outbreak.
The viral infection causes fever, muscle pain, and large boil-like skin lesions. Clade 1b is a relatively new, deadly and highly contagious strain that is responsible for the recent surge in cases.
Since July, outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. More than 16,000 cases and 500 deaths have been reported in the DRC alone this year.
On Wednesday, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) appealed for $18.5 million to ensure medical care for those affected in Africa. IOM Director-General Amy Pope said, "We must act swiftly to protect those most at risk and mitigate the impact of the outbreak in the region."
Meanwhile, in Argentina, health authorities have quarantined a cargo ship on the Parana River after a suspected case of Mpox was found on board, the government said.
The Health Ministry confirmed only that the crew member was an Indian national. He reportedly had cyst-like skin lesions, mainly on his chest and face, and was placed in isolation.
Philippine health officials said Wednesday that the recently detected Mpox case was the milder clade 2 variant. According to the WHO, clade 1b causes death in about 3.6% of cases, with children at higher risk.
The virus, previously known as monkeypox, was discovered in Denmark in 1958 in monkeys kept for research purposes.
Read more: China tightens borders to stop mpox
