One Mpox patient dead, four more cases confirmed, says health minister Joe Phaahla

Five cases of Mpox (monkeypox) have been confirmed in South Africa, with one fatality in Gauteng.

The patient died in Tembisa Hospital on Monday, health minister Joe Phaahla said on Wednesday.

All the patients are male, aged between 30 and 39. All cases are through local transmission as none had travelled abroad, he said.

The man who died lived in Gauteng and though he was originally from KwaZulu-Natal, he had not been home since December.

Of the four other patients, two are in hospital, one has been discharged with follow-up treatment and isolation and one has been cleared.

Three of these cases are in KwaZulu-Natal and one in Gauteng.

The first case was reported in May.

This is a developing story