JAKARTA, RAKYAT NEWS – The Indonesian Ministry of Health has confirmed 88 cases of monkeypox (Mpox) across the country as of August 17.

According to Yudhi Pramono, Acting Director General of Disease Prevention and Control, 87 of these cases have recovered.

The ministry’s latest report highlights that the peak in monkeypox cases occurred in October 2023.

The majority of cases are attributed to Clade IIB of the virus, which has been dominant since 2022, characterized by lower fatality rates and transmission primarily through sexual contact.

The distribution of cases is as follows: 59 in Jakarta, 13 in West Java, 9 in Banten, 3 in East Java, 3 in Yogyakarta, and 1 in the Riau Islands.

Pramono noted that 54 of these cases are eligible for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to determine the virus variant.

The monkeypox virus is categorized into two main clades: Clade I from Central Africa (Congo Basin), with subclades 1a and 1b, and Clade II from West Africa, with subclades IIa and IIb. Clade I has a higher fatality rate (CFR) and is transmitted through multiple modes, while Clade II, with a lower CFR of 3.6%, is primarily spread through sexual contact.

Pramono urged the public to use medical masks if feeling unwell and to seek medical attention if symptoms such as pustular rashes appear. The Ministry has implemented preventive measures including health facility surveillance, epidemiological investigations, and the establishment of 12 national reference laboratories for Mpox testing.

Prasetyadi Mawardi from the Indonesian Association of Dermatology and Venereology (PERDOSKI) confirmed that only Clade II variants have been detected in Indonesia to date.