Statement | 25 August 2024

There are many skin diseases that may be confused with mpox, such as chickenpox, shingles, or herpes. Hence, the DOH receives reports of suspect mpox cases on a regular basis, ever since the first case was detected in July 2022.

It is DOH policy to disclose detection of PCR-positive mpox cases as soon as verification is complete (see for example how fast case 10 was disclosed). We defer to local government units on their risk communication approach, knowing that they have the power to declare disease outbreaks within their respective localities, provided that such is supported by sufficient scientific evidence (see Sec 7, RA 11332).

We invite colleagues in media to please balance the need to report fast with the need to be scientifically accurate, so that anxiety will not be unnecessarily induced.