Thiruvananthapuram: A person who reached Kerala three days ago from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become the first person affected with Monkeypox in India. A Kollam native who had come from the UAE and was admitted to a hospital in Kerala is the first confirmed case, Health Minister Veena George has officially confirmed the first monkeypox case in Kerala.
The samples collected from the patient were sent to Pune Virology lab and the results, that came on Thursday, confirmed it as positive for Monkeypox. The patient, a 35-year-old male had shown symptoms similar to Monkeypox and was isolated. His samples were then collected and sent for tests. He was first admitted to a private hospital in Kollam and later to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.
Eleven persons, including the taxi driver who drove the man from the airport to Kollam, have been notified about the case and have been asked to go into quarantine, Health Minister said. She said this is the first Monkeypox case in the country. "Situation is under control. Monkeypox is a disease with symptoms similar to smallpox. However, the fatality rate is very low and vaccination is available for the disease," she said.
This year, over 1,600 confirmed and almost 1,500 suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from 39 countries – including seven where monkeypox has been detected for years, and 32 newly-affected countries. The global outbreak of monkeypox is “clearly unusual and concerning”, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday as he announced to convene an emergency committee next week to assess whether this outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.
