Thailand’s first monkeypox patient may have fled to Cambodia
A Nigerian man, who is Thailand’s first monkeypox patient, is believed to have fled to Cambodia, police said on Saturday.
The 27-year-old, identified as Osmond Chihazirim Nzerem, entered Thailand in October last year on an education visa, which expired in January.
He later travelled to Phuket, where he visited a local hospital last Saturday (July 16) with small blisters on his skin. Tests confirmed he has monkeypox, but health officials have not been able to track him down.
According to police records, Nzerem left his condominium at about 9pm on Tuesday (July 19) in a Honda car.
Security officials in the border province said on Saturday that the patient may have sneaked into Cambodia.
A likely “natural exit” may be the canal below a newly built bridge linking Thailand and Cambodia, a source said. People who want to cross over without undergoing immigration formalities usually swim across the canal and get picked up on the other side to be driven to the seaside town of Sihanoukville, the source added.
Separately, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday that Thailand will inform Cambodia about the case.