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Mpox uptick not cause for concern, but experts urge vigilance
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A health worker holds up an information poster about mpox on Nov. 1, 2023, at a Puskesmas (community health center) in Kedaung, South Tangerang, Banten. The Health Ministry is urging people to avoid direct contact with infected patients or animals to prevent the transmission of mpox. (Antara/Sulthony Hasanuddin)
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According to ministry data, Indonesia reported this year a total of 51 confirmed cases of the zoonotic disease, which can cause fever and rashes that last two to four weeks and can lead to death in 3-6 percent of cases.
Most of these cases have so far been found in Jakarta, with the capital contributing a total of 38 cases, followed by six and five cases in neighboring West Java and Banten, respectively, as well as one case each in the Riau Islands and East Java.
The first case to be reported this year was on Oct. 13, and the figure increased in the following weeks before trending downward over the past seven days, during which only seven new cases were reported.
As of Monday, 30 patients have since fully recovered from mpox, a disease formerly known as monkeypox.
The Health Ministry suspects that sexual intercourse has been the biggest contributor to the spread of mpox among Indonesians, accounting for some 90 percent of infection. The disease has also mostly been found among men who have sex with men.
Mpox, however, can infect anyone regardless of their sexual orientation, as it spreads through direct contact with infectious skin or lesions, including face-to-face, skin-to-skin and respiratory droplets.
