The Union health ministry on Monday said that a previously suspected case of Mpox was confirmed to be an infection caused by the virus. It added that there was no indication of any widespread risk to the public at this time.
On Sunday, the ministry said that a man who recently travelled from a country experiencing Mpox transmission had been identified as a suspected case of the disease.
“Laboratory testing has confirmed the presence of Mpox virus of the West African clade 2 in the patient,” the ministry said on Monday. “This case is an isolated case, similar to the earlier 30 cases reported in India from July 2022 onwards, and is not a part of the current public health emergency [reported by the World Health Organisation] which is regarding clade 1 of Mpox.”
While Mpox is not a new disease, it is a rare infection caused by the monkeypox virus. The illness was previously known as monkeypox. Clade 1 and 2 are the two types of the virus that causes Mpox.
While clade 1 is responsible for the current rise of cases in Africa, clade 2 is the type that caused the global outbreak that began in 2022. Historically, clade 1 caused higher numbers of severe illnesses than clade 2, with up to 10% of people dying from it.
Recent outbreaks have seen much lower death rates of about 1-3.3%.
Also read: Mpox health emergency: Lessons from Covid-19 should be implemented before the next crisis
In its statement on Monday, the ministry said that the man with the confirmed case was currently isolated at a designated tertiary care isolation facility. “The patient remains clinically stable and is without any systemic illness or comorbidities,” it added.
The case aligned with earlier risk assessments and continued to be managed according to established protocols, the ministry said, adding that public health measures, including contact tracing and monitoring, were in place to ensure that the situation was contained.
“There is no indication of any widespread risk to the public at this time,” it added.
The ministry did not provide details of this specific case or in which state it had been detected.
Mpox leads to rash and flu-like symptoms and spreads through wild animals like rodents and primates mainly in parts of Africa, according to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. It can also be transmitted through close contact with persons who have Mpox and contaminated materials.
While most persons infected by the virus fully recover, some get very ill. Vaccines are available for Mpox.
On August 14, the World Health Organisation declared the Mpox outbreaks in Africa as a global emergency. At that point, cases of the disease had been confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had announced on August 13 that with more than 500 deaths linked to the illness in 2024, the outbreaks were a public health emergency and requested global assistance in stopping the virus from spreading.
Also read:
Mpox upsurge shows the global perils of ignoring infectious disease outbreak in poorer regions
Mpox: The smallpox cousin that has set off a global health alarm, as explained by a microbiologist
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