India detects first case of Mpox Clade 1b strain in Kerala

India has reported the first case of the Mpox strain, which led to the WHO declaring it a public health emergency last month, in a patient from Kerala who had tested positive last week, official sources said on Monday.

They said Clade 1b strain has been detected in a 38-year-old man from Malappuram district who had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates.

Health Ministry spokesperson Manisha Verma confirmed the strain after news agency ANI cited official sources as saying that the mpox case reported in the Malappuram district of Kerala last week belonged to clade 1. The patient is a 38-year-old man who had travelled from the United Arab Emirates and had been admitted to the government medical college hospital in the district, Kerala authorities said last week.

India had reported about 30 cases and one death from the older strain, known as clade 2, between 2022 and March this year, and one more clade 2 case earlier this month.

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Two strains of mpox are now spreading in Congo - the endemic form of the virus, clade 1, and the new clade 1b strain, with the term ‘AH BUT MP[OX IS okclade’ referring to a form of the virus.

Mpox transmits through close physical contact, including sexual contact, but unlike previous global pandemics such as COVID-19 there is no evidence it spreads easily through the air.

It typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and is usually mild but can kill.

The patient is stable, the sources told PTI, adding ”this was the first case of the current strain that led to the World Health Organization declaring Mpox a public health emergency last month for a second time”.

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Since the 2022 declaration of Mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the WHO, 30 cases were reported in India.

Meanwhile, Kerala Health minister Veena George has already appealed to the public, including those returning from abroad with any symptoms, to inform the health department and seek treatment at the earliest.

In a social media post, she also released a list of state-run hospitals in various districts where treatment and isolation facilities for the affected persons have been arranged.

Besides this, treatment was available in all medical colleges in the state, the minister said.

Urging people to be vigilant, George said the state health department has already stepped up surveillance in airports in the state in accordance with the Centre’s guidelines in the wake of the outbreak of Mpox in many African countries.

Those arriving from the nations where the infection was reported have been instructed to report at the airport if they develop any symptoms, she said.

As soon as the outbreak of the Mpox was reported in 2022, the southern state had brought out a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) in this regard.

Isolation, sample collection and treatment, in accordance with the SoP, have been ensured in the state, the minister said and urged every hospital to follow this protocol without any fail.

George also cautioned people, especially health workers who handle the samples of the affected persons, to strictly follow infection control precautions.

Mpox infections are generally self-limiting, lasting between two and four weeks, and patients usually recover with supportive medical care and management.

It is transmitted through prolonged and close contact with an infected patient.

Mpox typically manifests itself with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications.

With inputs from agencies.