A 38-year-old man from Kerala tested positive for MPOX overall low risk assessment in India

A 38-year-old man from Kerala tested positive for MPOX  overall low risk assessment in India

A 38-year-old man belonging to Malappuram district of Kerala has been confirmed to have Mpox. Though there was no word from the Union Health Ministry, Kerala Health Minister Veena George confirmed it.

The WHO last month declared the current Mpox outbreak a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern' (PHEIC). This is considered the highest level of alert - but is not equivalent to an 'epidemic'.

There are no large-scale outbreaks except in African countries, including most of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Nigeria.

A few cases have been reported from other countries since PHEIC was announced.

In India, the government has assessed the overall risk as low and only a few imported cases are expected.

Mepox spreads from person to person, mainly through close contact with an infected person, WHO says. Close contact includes skin-to-skin contact.

Those who have sex with men with multiple sexual partners are at higher risk than others. People can also contract the infection from contaminated objects such as clothes, utensils or needles.

As of August 2024, it is clade 1b of the Mpox virus that has caused the outbreak.

It was not immediately clear whether the Kerala man contracted the empox virus.

On September 9, another person in Delhi was confirmed positive, but was found to be infected with clade 2b - which is now predominantly not circulating.

According to the motherland, the patient is from the United Arab Emirates. She had a rash on her skin, after which she went to a dermatologist. He was quarantined after showing some initial symptoms like rash with fever.

Later, he was asked to undergo further investigations, which confirmed the presence of the virus in his body.

He is currently undergoing treatment at Government Medical College Hospital, Malappuram.