A 37-year-old man has died in South Africa at Tembisa Hospital in Johannesburg, from the Monkeypox virus (Mpox), the country’s health minister Joe Phaahla said on Wednesday. The country has registered five laboratory-confirmed cases of the disease.

“All five cases were classified as ‘severe’ as per the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, requiring hospitalization,” the minister said. “The cases have co-morbidities and have been identified as key populations, Men who have Sex with Men (MSM),” he added.

Mpox can be transmitted to humans through direct contact with an infected person, contaminated materials, or infected animals. Symptoms include an unexplained acute rash, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, sudden fever, headache, muscle and body aches, and loss of energy.

The virus was first identified in macaques in the late 1950s. Human monkeypox got its name in the 1970s, long before the WHO released guidance on ‘best practices in naming diseases’ in 2015.

According to WJO, from 1 January, 2022 to 31 May, 2024, there were reported 97,208 laboratory-confirmed cases in 117 countries, resulting in 186 deaths.

South African’s health minister stressed that the country’s goal is to ensure a stockpile of the antiviral drug Tecovirimat is available for rapid use if the current situation develops into a wider outbreak.