GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – Guyana Monday became the latest Caribbean country to confirm a case of the Monkeypox virus with health officials saying that the patient is hospitalised in a stable condition.

Health Minister of Guyana, Dr Frank Anthony, said that health authorities are conducting contact-tracing and several people have since been quarantined. He added that the patient, a man, lives in Region Four of the country.

“We are now working with the patient; the patient is stable and we’ll continue working with that patient to make sure that everything is fine,” Dr Anthony said in a video posted on the government’s Department of Public Information (DPI) website.

The patient has been admitted to the Ocean View Infectious Disease Hospital. He is in his 50s, and was first suspected of being infected over the last weekend.

The Health Minister said the government is working with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to obtain test kits as well as a supply of vaccines from the lone global manufacturer.

Dr Anthony said with the emergence of Guyana’s first case of Monkeypox, the country’s virus response has been activated, which means that laboratories, trained laboratory personnel and physicians who have been trained to identify the viral diseases, have been put on alert.

He further advised residents that there is no need to panic but appealed to Guyanese to take all precautions.

More than 42,000 cases have been detected in 95 countries including Barbados, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Bermuda.

The symptoms for the virus include a rash that initially looks like pimples or blisters and may be painful or itchy. Other symptoms of Monkeypox can include, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, muscle aches and backache, headache as well as sore throat, nasal congestion, or cough.