India’s First Mpox Case: Isolated Patient, Who Travelled Abroad, Tests Positive

The presence of Mpox (monkeypox) virus of West African clade 2 was confirmed in the patient on Monday who was isolated after showing symptoms of the disease a day earlier and confirmed it as a travel-related infection.

Authorities pointed out that Clade 2 is not part of the current public health emergency warning issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The 2022 epidemic was caused by Clade 2 which is still circulating in many countries, including in the West.

Mpox’s resurgence and the detection in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of a new strain prompted the World Health Organization to declare its highest international alert level on August 14.

The epidemic in the DRC is caused by the Clade 1 strain, and the situation is becoming more complicated with the appearance of a new version of this subgroup, variant 1b.

They highlighted that the patient is stable and poses no immediate risk to the public.

The patient had travelled to a country that was witnessing a mpox outbreak and returned recently and exhibited symptoms of the disease.

They said laboratory tests identified the West African clade 2 of the Mpox virus in the patient.

“This isolated case is similar to the 30 reported in India since July 2022 and is not part of the current public health emergency concerning clade 1,” the ministry said.

“The patient remains clinically stable and is without any systemic illness or comorbidities,” the ministry said.

“The case aligns with earlier risk assessments and continues to be managed according to established protocols. Public health measures, including contact tracing and monitoring, are actively in place to ensure the situation is contained. There is no indication of any widespread risk to the public at this time,” the ministry further added.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of an mpox outbreak, on Thursday received its first vaccines. The DRC has recorded more than 19,000 mpox cases and over 650 deaths, according to the latest figures from the health minister.

Almost half of 200,000 doses were donated by the European Union and due to arrive by the end of the week to fight its spread.

Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.

Sometimes deadly, it causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.