NEW DELHI: After COVID-19, Mpox, which has also been declared a global health emergency, has entered India. The first case of the Mpox Clade 1b strain was reported from India’s Malappuram district in Kerala a few days ago.
The 38-year-old man who contracted the virus had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates.
According to a Reuters report, the man was admitted to a government-run medical college hospital in Malappuram, where his condition was declared stable by the doctors. “Around 29 friends and family members of the patient, along with 37 passengers on his flight, are currently being monitored at home. None of them have shown any Mpox symptoms so far.”
This is the first instance of the Clade 1b strain, which prompted the World Health Organization to declare the disease a public health emergency for the second time last month. The previous Mpox case reported from the national capital involved a 26-year-old resident of Haryana’s Hisar who tested positive for the earlier West African Clade 2 strain earlier this month. The WHO declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in 2022, and 30 cases have been documented in India since then.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George appealed to the general public through social media to inform the health department. “The disease has been confirmed for the person who was under treatment with Mpox symptoms in Malappuram. Mpox has been confirmed in a 38-year-old man who came from the UAE. It is requested that individuals seek treatment and inform the health department if they experience symptoms, including those coming here from other countries,” Veena wrote in a Facebook post.
The post further reads that treatment and isolation facilities have been arranged in various hospitals under the Health Department. “Phone numbers of nodal officers have also been provided. In addition, treatment facilities have been arranged in all medical colleges,” accompanied by a list of hospitals.
Besides this, treatment is available in all medical colleges in the state, the minister said.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral illness that has gained significant attention recently, particularly due to the global outbreak in 2022-2023.
The monkeypox virus was first discovered in 1958 in Denmark, where it was found in a colony of monkeys kept for research purposes. However, it wasn’t until 1970 that the first human case of Mpox was reported. This initial case involved a nine-month-old boy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Following the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and the subsequent cessation of global smallpox vaccination, Mpox emerged more prominently in Central, East, and West Africa.
Mpox is caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the Poxviridae family. This family also includes other notable viruses such as variola (smallpox), cowpox, and vaccinia. Two distinct genetic clades of the monkeypox virus have been identified: clade I and clade II.
