Kerala has reported its second case of Mpox after a 26-year-old man from Ernakulam tested positive for the viral infection. The man, who recently returned from the UAE, is currently receiving treatment at a private hospital in the city. His samples were initially tested at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Alappuzha and have now been sent for genomic sequencing to the NIV lab in Pune.
This marks the second Mpox case in Kerala and the third in India this year. Just last week, Kerala confirmed the first case of the highly transmissible Mpox Clade 1b strain in a 38-year-old man from Malappuram, who also had a travel history to the UAE. The patient remains in stable condition.
In response to the new cases, state health authorities have reinforced surveillance and isolation protocols to prevent the spread of the virus. Enhanced screening measures have been put in place for travelers, particularly those arriving from high-risk regions.
What is Mpox?
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus. It has two distinct clades including Clade I (with subclades Ia and Ib) and Clade II (with subclades IIa and IIb) which is known to cause fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes.
Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra, as per PTI said, "The 2024 PHEIC is related to mpox virus Clade 1, which is more virulent and more transmissible than mpox Clade 2. This clade has been found outside Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) only during the current outbreak. Outside Africa, one case each of mpox Clade 1b has been recently reported from Sweden and Thailand. India is thus the third non-African country to report a case of Clade 1b mpox infection recently."
She said that the samples of patients with skin lesions and suspected mpox virus should be sent to designated labs immediately.