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A Nigerian man, who was Thailand's first monkeypox case before fleeing the country, has been arrested by police in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on July 23.

Fled after being diagnosed in Phuket

The man, identified as a 27-year-old Nigerian national, was arrested near Doeum Thkov market, as reported by the Khmer Times.

According to Keut Chhe, deputy governor of Phnom Penh, he was then handed over to the Cambodian Ministry of Health.

The man had originally been tested for the monkeypox virus on July 16, and the test results returned positive on July 18, becoming Thailand's first confirmed case of monkeypox.

At that point he was instructed to go to hospital for treatment, but instead he turned off his mobile phone and became uncontactable.

The Bangkok Post reports that Opas Karkawinpong, director-general of Thailand's Department of Disease Control, said that the patient had fled with the help of other people, and that the police would take action against those who had aided his escape.

Crossed into Cambodia

The man appears to have crossed into Cambodia on July 22, when his phone was detected near the Thai-Cambodian border. He was initially expected to be heading to the Cambodian resort city of Sihanoukville, causing Cambodian officials in the city to urgently search for men matching his description.

However, he ultimately went to Phnom Penh, possibly due to the significant Nigerian expat community in the city.

Cambodian officials in Phnom Penh are now urgently conducting contact tracing to find out where he has been and who he has come into contact with.

His arrest also makes him the first confirmed monkeypox case in Cambodia.

WHO's highest alert

The arrest comes on the same day that the World Health Organization's  (WHO) director general identified the monkeypox virus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

This is the WHO's highest alert status, used most recently for the Covid-19 virus in 2020.

Globally cases of monkeypox have gone up five times in the past month, from just over 3000 reported cases in 47 countries, to over 16,000 in 75 countries.

The WHO has issued a set of recommendations to governments to help them limit the outbreak.

For more information about monkeypox, visit MOH's dedicated website here.

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Top image via Wikipedia & WHO