The 35-year-old woman residing in Ho Chi Minh City travelled to Dubai from July to September 22 on a holiday. She was said to show clinical symptoms such as high temperatures with fatigue, muscle aches, a headache, a cough, and itchy bumps on the arms, body, and face during her stay in Dubai.

She underwent a test upon her return to Ho Chi Minh City, with the result coming back positive for the monkeypox virus. Later genome sequencing by Oxford University and Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases also confirmed the test result.

Currently, the patient is in stable health condition with no fever. She is being isolated and treated at Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

All people in close contact with the patient in Vietnam are being monitored according to regulations and no suspected cases have been detected so far, said the Ministry of Health.

Thousands of people in more than 70 countries and territories have been infected with the virus, according to information given by the World Health Organization (WHO). The illness can be spread from person to person through close contact, such as wounds, body fluids, droplets, or contact with contaminated objects like blankets and pillows.

The disease is often most severe in children, pregnant women, or immunocompromised people and the incubation period is between five to 21 days, usually six to 13 days. Whilst monkeypox has symptoms similar to smallpox, it differs in its systemic skin lesions and enlarged lymph nodes.

Source: VOV