Kerala has reported its second case of Mpox this year after a 26-year-old man from Ernakulam tested positive for the viral infection.
The man, who recently returned from the UAE, is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ernakulam. His initial samples were tested at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Alappuzha, and they have now been sent for genomic sequencing to the NIV lab in Pune.
This is the third Mpox case in India this year and comes just a week after Kerala confirmed its 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 Malappuram patient remains in stable condition.
In light of these cases, state health authorities have reinforced surveillance and isolation protocols to prevent the spread of the virus. Enhanced screening measures have been implemented for travelers, especially those arriving from high-risk regions.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus. The virus has two distinct clades: Clade I (with subclades Ia and Ib) and Clade II (with subclades IIa and IIb), known to cause fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes.
According to Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra, the current outbreak is linked to Mpox Clade 1, which is more virulent and transmissible than Clade 2. Clade 1 has been found outside the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) only during the recent outbreak, with recent cases reported in Sweden and Thailand. India has now become the third non-African country to report a case of Clade 1b Mpox infection.
The Health Secretary emphasized the need for immediate testing and reporting of patients with skin lesions and suspected Mpox virus, urging that samples be sent to designated labs without delay.
The state continues to monitor the situation closely, with health officials on high alert to curb the spread of the virus.