Kerala on Wednesday, September 18, recorded India's second mpox case as a 38-year-old man undergoing treatment in Malappuram tested positive for the deadly infection, said the State Health Department.
According to Kerala Health Minister Veena George, the infected man tested positive following his return from the United Arab Emirates. It has been told that the mpox patient had been isolated and is being treated in accordance with established medical protocols.
A day before, the suspected case was reported from Malappuram when it was told that the man, upon noticing the symptoms, had taken precautionary measures by isolating himself from his family. He was later taken to the Manjeri Medical College.
"His samples have been sent for testing and the results are awaited," the health minister told reporters in Delhi.
According to a district health official, the patient arrived in Kerala a few days ago and, after falling sick, was first admitted to a private hospital.
"From there he was admitted to the Manjeri Medical College. On suspecting that it might be a case of mpox, we sent his samples to the Kozhikode Medical College for testing. The results are awaited," the official said yesterday.
On September 9, India recorded the first case of mpox as the health ministry confirmed that a 26-year-old man from Haryana's Hisar, who recently travelled from a country experiencing mpox symptoms, tested positive for the disease.
Further commenting on the matter, the health ministry described it as an 'isolated case' of mpox in India and is not linked to the public health emergency declared by the WHO.
The Health Ministry in its brief statement said, "The previously suspected case of mpox has been verified as a travel-related infection. Laboratory testing has confirmed the presence of mpox virus of the West African clade-2 in the patient."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) last month declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for the second time in view of its prevalence and spread across many parts of Africa.
