India said on Monday that a case of monkeypox involving a man in the southern state of Kerala was of the rapidly spreading clade 1b variety, marking the first recorded case of the new strain in South Asia.
Health Ministry spokesperson Manisha Verma confirmed the strain after the news agency ANI He cited official sources who said that The case of mpox reported in Malappuram district of Kerala last week belonged to clade 1.
The patient is a 38 year old man who had travelled from the United Arab Emirates and had been admitted to the government medical college hospital in the district, Kerala authorities said last week.
Some 29 friends and family members of the patient, along with 37 passengers on his flight, are being monitored at home, but None of them have shown symptoms of mpox So far, he said Reuters On Monday, Malappuram district nodal officer Dr Shubin C.
The office of the Kerala state health minister did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters for case details.
India, the most populous nation in the world, so far had not reported any cases of monkeypox from the new strainbut federal officials had issued a notice this month to all states to remain vigilant and be prepared to address potential cases.
The warning followed the rapid spread that prompted the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a global health emergency after the new branch, first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, began to spread to neighboring countries.
India had reported around 30 cases and one death by the older strain, known as clade 2, between 2022 and March of this year, and one more case of clade 2 earlier this month.
???? India has reported its first case of MPOX clade 1 in Malappuram, Kerala. This is the strain that prompted the WHO to declare a public health emergency. (ANI) pic.twitter.com/ma3PPZs7gT
— Indian Tech & Infra (@IndianTechGuide) September 23, 2024
They are currently spreading in the Congo two strains of monkeypox: the endemic form of the virus, clade 1, and the new strain clade 1b (the term “clade” refers to a form of the virus).
Monkeypox is transmitted through close physical contact, including sexual contact, but unlike previous global pandemics such as covid-19, There is no evidence that it spreads easily through the air..
It usually causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and It is usually mild but can be fatal..
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