PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has received a batch of antiviral Tecovirimat for mpox but the medicine is only reserved for high risk groups, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (pic).
In a post on X, the minister said the batch of medicine was received on Tuesday (Sept 24).
The high risk groups are those with severe disease and low immune system, he said.
Tecovirimat is a medicine to treat smallpox, mpox and cowpox, which are three infections caused by viruses belonging to the same family (orthopoxviruses).
“MPox vaccine deal finalised, waiting (for) execution (and) delivery. Also for high-risk groups,” he said.
Dzulkefly said so far there had been no new mpox cases in the country but that the “surveillance continues.”
On Sept 10, he had said the government was taking every measure necessary to keep the disease out of the country, including stringent health screening on inbound international travellers with over six million checked so far.
On Sept 17, the ministry had announced that a mpox case had been detected in Malaysia.
The patient is a male citizen who began showing symptoms of fever, sore throat, and cough on Sept 11, while rashes appeared on Sept 12.
