THE City Health Office (CHO) has strongly denied that there is a recorded case of monkeypox in Zamboanga City.

The CHO said it is exerting its best efforts to prevent the entry of monkeypox in this city in close collaboration with the Department of Health (DOH) and private health agencies.

“There is no reported case of monkeypox in Zamboanga City as of this date,” the CHO said in a statement Sunday, August 7.

“The public is urged to refrain from spreading unreliable and unverified information as it sows panic and confusion,” the CHO added.

The CHO said that the report that there is already a monkeypox case in Zamboanga City is “fake news.”

The CHO said that for official updates and information, the public is advised to subscribe to and follow only official sources of information such as the City Government's Facebook page.

The DOH said that there is already a confirmed case of monkeypox in the country.

The first case was a 31-year-old Filipino national who arrived from abroad last July 19.

The patient had prior travel to countries with documented monkeypox cases. (SunStar Zamboanga)