Rajasthan has reported its first suspected case of monkeypox.
A 20-year-old, exhibiting symptoms of the disease, has been admitted to a government hospital here and his samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, Dr. Ajit Singh, Superintendent of Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, said on Monday.
The youth was referred from Kishangarh late on Sunday. He has been kept under observation in the special ward created for monkeypox cases, he said.
The youth is suffering from fever for the last four days and has rashes on his body, Dr Singh added.
Death in Kerala
A 30 year-old man, who came to Kerala from UAE last month, has tested positive for monkeypox, making him the fifth case of the virus from the southern state.
Health Minister Veena George on Tuesday said the man had arrived at the Calicut Airport on July 27 and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Malappuram district.
His health condition is stable, she said.
Those who were in close contact with him, including his parents, are being closely monitored.
It is the fifth case of Monkeypox reported in the state, she said.
The first patient was discharged and the condition of others was stable, the minister added.
Kerala has recently reported the death of a man in Thrissur who had tested positive for monkeypox in the United Arab Emirates before returning to India, Kerala health minister Veena George said on Sunday. The state government will confirm the infection only after getting swab results from the National Institute of Virology, the minister said.
He returned to India on July 22 and was admitted to a private hospital five days later after he developed high fever, she added.
With two confirmed cases of monkeypox in the country being reported from Kerala, health authorities in the state have increased measures to prevent a potential outbreak. India's first case was reported on July 14 in a man travelling to Kerala. A 31-year-old man from Kannur in Kerala, who returned from Dubai, tested positive for monkeypox on July 18, making it the second confirmed case of the disease in India.
Following this, a high-level central multi-disciplinary team of experts has been deployed to assist the southern state's health department in its outbreak control and containment efforts. Kerala also has taken several measures and issued a fresh set of guidelines to deal with the disease.
Monkeypox in Delhi
Recently, a 34-year-old man from the national capital with no history of foreign travel has tested positive for the monkeypox virus, official sources said.
His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune which came out positive, the sources said. "Contact tracing process has been initiated," the sources said. Three cases of monkeypox had earlier been reported from Kerala. The WHO had on Saturday declared monkeypox a global public health emergency of international concern.
(With PTI Inputs)