Monkeypox In India: ICMR-NIV Study Reveals Virus Strain A.2 In Two UAE Returnees Who Tested Positive

As per the details mentioned in the ICMR-NIV study, a 35-year-old male and a 31-year-old male who came from UAE and tested positive for Monkeypox were infected with virus strain A.2.

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology on Friday informed that two monkeypox cases of travellers who had returned from the UAE  were infected with monkeypox virus strain A.2 related to the lineage of hMPXV-1A clade 3. 

"The complete genome sequences obtained from skin lesions of cases 1 and 2 showed similarity of 99.91 and 99.96 per cent respectively with MPXV_USA_2022_FL001 West African clade," read the ICMR-NIV study, as quoted by news agency ANI.

"Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the two cases were infected with Monkeypox virus strain A.2 which belong to hMPXV-1A lineage of clade 3," it added. 

As per the details mentioned in the ICMR study, a 35-year-old male and a 31-year-old male who came from UAE tested positive for Monkeypox. Both cases have no traces of sexual contact.

As for the first male, there was a history of similar lesions amongst his friends and contact with a suspected Monkeypox case. "Case 1, a 35-year, male, resident of UAE had developed low-grade fever and myalgia on July 5 2022. On the next day, he developed multiple vesicular rashes in the oral cavity and lips followed by a single lesion on the genital organ. The lesions were umbilicated with the size 0.5 to 0.8 cm," the study explained the history of the first case. 

The second case of a 32-year-old male from Dubai, UAE travelled to his hometown Kerala on July 13, 2022, and tested positive for Monkeypox. "A 31-year male in Dubai, UAE had developed dysuria and genital swelling on July 8, 2022. On the next day, he developed fever with chills, myalgia, backache and headache," the study stated, as quoted by ANI. According to the report, he developed multiple vesicular rashes on the genital organ and on both hands on July 10, 2022. 

The lesions progressed and later spread to the face, back, neck and forearm with cervical lymphadenopathy by July 15, 2022. "He did not have any co-morbidity and denied any sexual or physical contact with suspected or confirmed MPXV case," it added. 

Samples from multiple sites (lesion fluid, lesion roof and lesion base) of both the Monkeypox cases were collected on the ninth post-onset day of illness i.e., July 13, 2022, and July 16, 2022, respectively. Further, the cases were referred to the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for emerging and re-emerging diseases, ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune, India for the MPXV diagnosis.

Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease with symptoms similar to smallpox but is considered less severe. 

A 31-year-old Nigerian woman in Delhi Wednesday was found to be infected with monkeypox, the total number of people infected with the virus in the country to nine.

(With Agency Inputs)