Istanbul health authorities deny reports of mpox case

ISTANBUL

Local health authorities have denied media reports claiming the country’s first case of mpox has been detected in Istanbul.

Some news outlets had reported that a foreign national in the Beyoğlu district tested positive for the virus.

“The person has been transferred to hospital for necessary tests and medical examinations in accordance with health protocols,” the Health Ministry’s Istanbul directorate said in an X post on Sept. 11.

"As a result of the necessary examination and tests, it has been determined that the person does not have monkeypox."

The statement reassured the public that they have the necessary resources to monitor and control infectious diseases.

“We kindly request that you do not trust the news from unknown sources circulating on social media,” it added.

Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the latest outbreak, received 50,000 more vaccine doses from the United States on Sept. 10 to fight the country's epidemic, adding to some 200,000 donated by the EU.

The DRC has recorded more than 21,500 cases and over 700 deaths, according to the public health institute in charge of managing the disease.

Some 62 percent of mpox cases in the DRC are in children, as are four out of five deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The WHO declared an international emergency over mpox on Aug. 14, concerned by the surge in cases of the new Clade 1b strain in the DRC that spread to nearby countries.

Both the Clade 1b and Clade 1a strains are present in the country.

Formerly called monkeypox, the virus was discovered in 1958 in Denmark, in monkeys kept for research.

It was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.

In Africa, mpox is now present in at least 14 countries, including Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, according to Africa CDC figures.