"monkey"

The World Health Organisation (WHO)'s move to rename the monkeypox virus will help prevent cultural and social discrimination, the vice chair of the Public Health Commission said on Sunday.

A series of monkey attacks in a residential area of Yamaguchi City, particularly against children and elderly women, have left dozens injured and officials scrambling for a solution.

Monkeypox will be considered a “communicable disease under surveillance” for now, the Public Health Ministry said, adding it sees no need to upgrade it to “dangerous communicable disease” yet.

Thailand’s first case of monkeypox was detected last week on a Nigerian man in Phuket, the Department of Disease Control (DDC) announced on Thursday night.

Laboratory tests on 13 people suspected to have monkeypox show none are infected, while there are three people who have come into contact with patients, the Department of Disease Control said on Wednesday.

All ten recent suspected cases of monkey pox have tested negative and the virus has not been detected in Thailand so far, the Disease Control Department (DCD) announced on Thursday.

US retail store giant Walmart did not remove Thai products made from coconut milk from its shelves because it was pressured by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in a bid to ban Thailand for using monkeys to pick coconuts, said the Commerce Ministry’s Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP).

Thailand has expressed interest in obtaining monkeypox vaccines but only as a “preparatory” step as they are not necessary at the moment, Department of Disease Control (DDC) director-general Dr Opas Karnkawinpong said on Tuesday.

A leading virologist explained there are differences between the spread of monkeypox in Africa and in Europe.

Monkeypox is not that easy to contract and there is a low possibility of the virus sparking an outbreak in Thailand, leading virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

Twelve people who came into contact with a confirmed monkeypox patient are low-risk contacts as they have no symptoms, the Disease Control Department (DDC) said on Thursday.

A top Thai virologist said on Tuesday that it will be difficult to contain the spread of monkeypox because it has mild symptoms and can spread easily through intercourse.