The detainee, remanded in custody for murder, could have contracted the disease before his incarceration at the prison in the locality of Nakasongola, according to Mr. Baine.
The prison administration has banned visits as a preventative measure, he said.
Of a total of 41 cases of mpox detected in Uganda, 21 were reported in this central region of the country, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health on Monday.
Mpox, previously called monkeypox, is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans but is also transmitted between humans, causing fever, muscle pain and skin lesions.
The resurgence of mpox on the African continent and the appearance of a new variant (clade 1b) pushed the WHO to trigger its highest level of global alert in mid-August.
Mpox is currently present in 16 African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where more than 30,000 cases and nearly 990 deaths have been recorded since the start of the year, according to official figures.
A vaccination campaign in this country, which accounts for 90% of cases of the disease according to the WHO, was launched last weekend.
