Press Release | 09 September 2024

Last September 6, 2024, Health Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa met with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) concerning Mpox.

Despite continued community transmission, DOH is able to manage Mpox Clade II. Since 2022, the Philippines has had zero fatalities, and nine (9) cases have fully recovered.

All fourteen (14) active cases are Mpox Clade II, recovering at home. The DOH Mpox response which includes prompt testing, contact tracing, and home care makes it easy to break chains of transmission.

Mpox Clade II is the milder variant of Mpox. Unlike COVID-19 which is airborne, Mpox Clade II is transmitted by close and intimate, skin-to-skin contact and through objects touched by patients with active skin lesions. It does not spread as fast and as wide as COVID-19. Covering one’s skin in crowded areas, and washing hands often with soap and water (or using alcohol sanitizers) will kill the virus. Objects can be made virus-free by the usual disinfectants and alcohol.

We anticipate more positive mpox cases, because we are testing as fast and as broad as we can. Increasing case counts does not mean increasing infections. Mpox Clade II has always been around, with people getting it via close, intimate skin to skin contact. They have also been recovering, and there have been no deaths since.

“With our data, we will not implement any border control or community quarantine (lockdowns). We will not mandate face masks or face shields. The best prevention is frequent hand washing and hygienic practices,” said Secretary Herbosa. “There is no added value to health for a public counting of cases. It only leads to anxiety and mental health problems. Surveillance, case finding, and community engagement is best handled by the DOH and local health authorities,” added the Health Chief.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) is being updated regularly, but will not be activated for now. Containment can be implemented by DOH and LGUs should we get an imported case of Mpox Clade Ib. DOH may consider activating the IATF should there be community transmission of Mpox Clade Ib.