India’s health ministry says it has recorded a suspected case of mpox found in a man who recently travelled from a country suffering an outbreak of the virus.
“The case is being managed in line with established protocols, and contact tracing is ongoing to identify potential sources and assess the impact within the country,” the health ministry added.
The ministry did not specify which strain of the mpox virus the patient might have, but tests were being conducted to confirm the infection.
The clade 1b variety of mpox has triggered global concern because it seems to spread more easily through routine close contact.
A case of the variant was confirmed last week in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa.
India has detected 30 cases of an older strain, known as clade 2, between 2022 and March 2024.
Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) changed the name monkeypox to mpox, saying the name of the disease appeared to be “racist”.
Last month, the global health body declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant was identified.
But the WHO added that the mpox outbreak is not another COVID-19.
Both strains – clade 1b and clade 1a – are present in the country.
A suspected case of mpox has been reported by India’s health ministry in a man who recently traveled from a nation where the virus is out of control.
The world’s most populous nation has put “robust measures” in place, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The young male patient has been isolated in a hospital and is in stable condition.
The health ministry continued, “The case is being managed in line with established protocols, and contact tracing is ongoing to identify potential sources and assess the impact within the country.”.
The patient was undergoing tests to confirm the infection, but the ministry did not say which strain of the mpox virus the patient might have.
The mpox strain known as clade 1b has caused alarm throughout the world due to its apparent ease of transmission through frequent close contact.
Last week, a case of the variant was identified in Sweden and connected to an expanding outbreak in Africa. Between March 2022 and March 2024, 30 cases of an older strain, referred to as clade 2, were discovered in India.
The virus, which was once known as monkeypox, was found in 1958 in Denmark in monkeys that were kept for scientific purposes. It was discovered in people for the first time in 1970. It is brought on by a virus that is primarily spread from human to human through close physical contact, but it can also be contracted from animals.
Though usually mild, in rare instances, it can be fatal. It results in lesions filled with pus and flu-like symptoms.
The disease’s name was changed from monkeypox to mpox by the World Health Organization (WHO) last year because they felt it sounded “racist.”. Following the discovery of the new variant last month, the global health organization deemed the outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern.
However, the WHO clarified that the mpox outbreak is not a resurgence of COVID-19.
The WHO reports that since the year began, there have been over 17,500 cases of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and 629 deaths related to the disease. The nation is home to both strains, clade 1b and clade 1a.
In an effort to contain an outbreak that has prompted the UN to declare a worldwide public health emergency, the Democratic Republic of Congo has received its first batch of mpox vaccines.
