He said the patient, who was confirmed positive for mpox last Sept 16, had shown positive progress.

“The patient, who is currently in isolation, is stable.

“We will let you know when (the isolation period is over),” he told reporters after the Gotong Royong Mega Fight Aedes 2.0 clean-up programme here today.

Last Sept 17, health director-general Dr Radzi Abu Hassan said the health ministry had confirmed one positive case of mpox the previous day. The case was identified from 58 suspected mpox cases referred to the ministry this year.

Dzulkefly said no new cases had been recorded so far and advised the community to continue to practise preventive measures.

“It can be said (mpox) is under control,” he said.

Commenting on the mpox vaccine, he said the matter had been finalised and the ministry was awaiting the arrival of the MVA-BN vaccine supply.

Dzulkefly had announced that Malaysia would receive the Tecovirimat (TPOXX) antiviral drug and the MVA-BN vaccine for the mpox virus through the “Covid-19 Asean Response Fund” soon.

The MVA-BN vaccine is only for high-risk groups, including health workers and close contacts of confirmed cases. It will only be given based on medical examination and evaluation.

On dengue, Dzulkefly said climate change is one of the factors affecting the breeding of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry the virus.
 
He said the breeding process of Aedes mosquitoes is very active when there is a temperature change.
 
Yesterday, the ministry reported that weather conditions play an important role in the transmission of dengue fever because it affects the habitat and survival of the Aedes mosquito.

According to the Malaysian Meteorological Departmen, the monsoon transition phase will begin on Sept 24 and is expected to continue until this November. Dengue cases are expected to increase due to stagnant pools of water.

During the Sept 15-21 period, there were 1,514 cases of dengue fever, including two deaths.