Mpox in the Philippines

July 28 – September 15, 2022 (1 month, 2 weeks and 4 days Public health emergency of international concern: 23 July 2022 – 11 May 2023 (9 months, 2 weeks and 4 days) The Philippines was among the countries which reported cases during the 2022–2023 global outbreak of human mpox caused by the West African clade of the monkeypox virus.

Symptoms include a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over, fever, and swollen lymph nodes.

[5] Diagnosis can be confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing a lesion for the virus's DNA.

The individual's mpox infection was confirmed through a reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa which yielded a positive result on July 28, 2022.

[13] On August 6, 2022, the patient was discharged after undergoing the 21-day quarantine isolation to which no other person was infected according to the Department of Health (DOH).

[17] DOH Technical Advisory Group (TAG) member Dr. Edsel Salvana says he expects more cases to be detected but allayed concerns of a local transmission or the disease becoming endemic in the country.

[23] The DOH also asked the Western Visayas regional office to investigate the photos of the patient shared on social media as early as August 22 deeming such act as an unauthorized disclosure of private and confidential information.

The next day, the health department's Central Visayas office disclosed there are five suspected mpox cases in the region.

[41] On September 5, 2022, the first ever case of mpox in Hong Kong was detected from a passenger who arrived from a flight from Manila.

It also announced that all suspected cases are to undergo reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for mpox.

[44][45] By June 20, 2022, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa announced that it has optimized its real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of monkeypox virus.

In an explicit statement on August 2, 2022, DOH Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that borders and foreign entry are not to be shut down whilst not yet receiving recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO).

[48] Furthermore, it was affirmed that the opening of classes and universities will still resume on August 22 accordingly along with the cooperation of DepEd and local LGUs.

[49][50] The DOH has also entered negotiations with the United States government in a bid to secure mpox vaccines for a limited demographic.

[53] The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine serves as the testing center for mpox once again for the epidemic which started in August 2024.