Twenty-seven people tested negative for monkeypox. The tests were based on samples collected from people in close contact with the Nigerian man in Phuket who is the country’s first monkeypox case, according to the Department of Medical Sciences.
Dr Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the department, said the samples tested negative but officials found the disease on objects in the environment of the Nigerian man including door knobs and sheets. They had yet to find out if the disease on the objects could cause infection, he said.
The transmission required very close contact with wounded skin and membranes such as those of eyes and noses and was impossible through contact with normal skin which could screen out diseases.
People could protect themselves from monkeypox with same measures advised to prevent COVID-19 infection which included hand washing with soap, alcohol spray and social distancing, Dr Supakit said. (TNA)