CHIANG MAI: Two monkeypox (mpox) cases have been found in the city while the Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office has warned that over 5,000 people in the provincial capital currently have dengue fever.
Songyot Khamchai, head of the communicable disease control unit at the Chiang Mai public health office, said yesterday the two confirmed mpox cases are reported to be homosexual patients.
The first case, a 31-year-old man whose name was withheld, said he recently had a one-night stand in Taiwan and became infected with mpox while abroad.
Mr Songyot said the case was past the incubation period so the man can no longer transmit the virus to others.
The second case, a 40-year-old man whose name was not given, was infected in another province, but his symptoms started to show while he was travelling in Chiang Mai.
Mr Songyot said the man had been sent to his hometown for quarantine.
Some 217 mpox cases have been recorded in Thailand to date, almost all males. As of Aug 15, 187 were Thai nationals.
According to the Department of Disease Control, there has only been one mpox death recorded in the country.
The dead man had been HIV-positive and had syphilis but never received treatment. He developed mpox symptoms on July 3 and died on Aug 11.
Mr Songyot said people with a recent history of close contact with high-risk groups or who have developed rashes or swollen lymph nodes can be treated at any hospital in Chiang Mai.
Meanwhile, the number of dengue cases is increasing.
Mr Songyot said Chiang Mai has seen almost 5,000 cases this year, compared to just 1,000 for the whole of 2022.
He said if the dengue cases in the city's Muang district do not drop by the end of this month, the Chiang Mai Provincial Administration Organisation will label it a dengue outbreak area, which requires enforcement of the Communicable Diseases Act.
The five districts in the city with the most cases are Muang, Mae Ai, Fang, Chai Prakan and Mae Rim districts, Mr Songot added.