<p>Sudan has detected its first monkeypox case, health authorities said Monday, after the World Health Organization last month declared the disease a public health emergency of international concern.</p>.<p>The health ministry announced "registering the first confirmed case of monkeypox in a 16-year-old student in West Darfur state in Sudan".</p>.<p>Montaser Othman, who is director of epidemic control, said there had been around 38 other "suspected cases" but all had tested negative for the virus.</p>.<p>An investigation was underway by the federal and state health ministries to determine the source of the infection, he added.</p>.<p>The impoverished northeast African nation is especially vulnerable given its poor public health services.</p>.<p>According to UN children's agency UNICEF, only 70 per cent of the 45-million-strong population have "access to a health facility within 30 minutes travel of their home" in Sudan, where 13 of 18 states suffered outbreaks of vector-borne diseases in 2021.</p>.<p>Last month the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, the highest alarm it can sound.</p>
<p>Sudan has detected its first monkeypox case, health authorities said Monday, after the World Health Organization last month declared the disease a public health emergency of international concern.</p>.<p>The health ministry announced "registering the first confirmed case of monkeypox in a 16-year-old student in West Darfur state in Sudan".</p>.<p>Montaser Othman, who is director of epidemic control, said there had been around 38 other "suspected cases" but all had tested negative for the virus.</p>.<p>An investigation was underway by the federal and state health ministries to determine the source of the infection, he added.</p>.<p>The impoverished northeast African nation is especially vulnerable given its poor public health services.</p>.<p>According to UN children's agency UNICEF, only 70 per cent of the 45-million-strong population have "access to a health facility within 30 minutes travel of their home" in Sudan, where 13 of 18 states suffered outbreaks of vector-borne diseases in 2021.</p>.<p>Last month the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, the highest alarm it can sound.</p>