New Delhi
CNN
—
India has confirmed its first case of the more deadly strain of MPOX, raising alarm among health officials around the world about its rapid pace of spread.
The lineage Ib strain of the virus was detected last week in a 38-year-old man who had recently travelled to Dubai and confirmed by health authorities in the southern state of Kerala.
On Wednesday, the state’s Health Minister Beena George praised Kerala’s “strong health system” for detecting the case.
The variant outbreak, previously confined to the Democratic Republic of Congo, was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month after it spread to four previously unaffected African countries.
The strain has since been detected in several countries outside Africa, including Sweden and Thailand.
Formerly known as monkeypox, Mpox is a viral disease that spreads easily from person to person and from infected animals. It can be spread through close contact, such as touching, kissing or sexual contact, but also through contaminated objects such as sheets, clothing or needles, according to the WHO.
Symptoms may include fever, rash, lesions, headache, muscle and back pain, loss of energy, and swollen lymph nodes.
The virus is characterized by two genetic clades, type I and type II. Clades are broad groups of viruses that have evolved over decades.
Clade II is responsible for the global pandemic that the WHO declared a Global Health Emergency from July 2022 to May 2023. Clade Ib causes more severe disease.
Dr Shubin C, a health official in Kerala’s Malappuram district, said the infected patients have been isolated in a local hospital and are being tested every four days as they recover.
“The patient’s condition is improving. The lesions are starting to heal. There are no new lesions. He currently has no fever or other symptoms,” the doctor told CNN, adding that he will be discharged after two consecutive negative test results.
Authorities have identified 29 people who came into contact with the patient and they are currently in self-isolation, he said.
He added that around 37 passengers on the flight from Dubai to Kerala and five close contacts of the patient are being monitored.
Kerala health officials are no strangers to tackling infectious diseases.
“Surveillance is being stepped up, including at airports,” Health Minister George said, adding that there were five MPOX testing facilities and more would be set up if needed. Isolation facilities had also been set up, she said.
Last year, the state contained a Nipah virus outbreak after two deaths. The state closed schools and tested hundreds of people to prevent the spread of the rare and often deadly disease.