The infection identified in the patient is from the same family of the virus as had been identified earlier in India
The patient earlier isolated in India on suspicions of Mpox has been confirmed to have contracted the infection. The government of India, in a statement said that there is no cause for worry.
This is India’s 31st Mpox case and the first since the World Health Organisation declared the disease as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The government of India said: “The previously suspected case of Mpox (monkeypox) 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. This case is an isolated case, similar to the earlier 30 cases reported in India from July 2022 onwards, and is not a part of the current public health emergency (reported by WHO) which is regarding clade 1 of mpox.”
Two strains of virus may be defined to belong to different clades if they have a common ancestor but have each taken a different line of mutation. “The individual, a young male who recently traveled from a country experiencing ongoing Mpox transmission, is currently isolated at a designated tertiary care isolation facility. The patient remains clinically stable and is without any systemic illness or comorbidities,” the ministry of health and family welfare added.
Meanwhile the ministry, in a letter to state health departments, has asked them to screen and treat all possible Mpox cases as per protocol.
Mpox is a viral disease that is characterised by fever and pus filled painful boils all over the body. It spreads either by skin to skin contact or by coming in contact with the scabs shed by a patient who is suffering from the disease. Pregnant mothers can transmit the infection to their babies through what is known as vertical transmission. It can also occasionally spread from animals to people. The treatment for the disease is mostly supportive or symptomatic.
