A spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Health confirmed the discovery of the first infection with the monkeypox virus for a person who had returned from an unspecified country that had recorded confirmed cases.
The 27-year-old man tested positive in the capital, Jakarta, late Friday night, ministry spokesman Muhammed Syahrel told a news conference.
Syahrel indicated that the Indonesian citizen is in “good” condition and shows only mild symptoms, and is self-isolating at home. The spokesman did not mention the country from which the patient returned.
The Ministry of Health urged calm and reassured the public that monkeypox might be cured. Twenty-two suspected cases have been tested across the country so far, and all have been negative.
Neighboring Singapore reported its first case of the disease last month, and had confirmed 15 cases as of August 5. In other regions in Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Thailand also confirmed the discovery of cases of the disease.
The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency, with more than 40,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox, including a few deaths, in more than 80 countries where the virus is not endemic.