Colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (green) cultivated and purified from cell culture. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID

MANILA — Baguio City has detected its second mpox case, its public information office (PIO) said.

In a Facebook post over the weekend, the PIO said the patient is a 22-year-old male Baguio resident with no travel history outside the Philippines. He experienced flu-like symptoms symptoms and fatigue, followed by rashes. 

His infection was caused by the less severe Clade II type, the same as the first mpox case in the city. The city’s first mpox patient completed home isolation last January 17 and recovered, the PIO said.

“Magkaiba po kung paano nila nakuha. Wala pong relation ang dalawang kaso,” Baguio health officer Dr. Celia Brillantes said. 

“Na-contain na po natin. We are in close monitoring with the patient and the close contacts… Yung mga close contacts ay wala naman po[ng sintomas],” she told TeleRadyo Serbisyo. 

With Baguio set to kick off its Panagbenga Festival on Feb. 1, the doctor urged those experiencing symptoms to stay home and alert health authorities of their condition. 

What is mpox, how is it spread, and how can it be prevented?

Mpox is caused by a virus from the same family as the smallpox, manifesting itself through a high fever and skin lesions, called vesicles.

First identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, the disease had generally been confined to a dozen African countries but began to spread more widely in 2022, reaching developed countries where the virus had never previously circulated.

The World Health Organization declared its highest alert level in 2024.

— With a report from Agence France-Presse