India says an mpox case involving a man in the southern state of Kerala was from the fast-spreading clade 1b variety, marking South Asia's first recorded case from the new strain. or signup to continue reading Health Ministry spokeswoman 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.
About 29 friends and family members of the patient along with 37 passengers on his flight are being monitored at home but none of them have shown any mpox symptoms so far, Malappuram district's nodal officer, Dr Shubin C, told Reuters on Monday. The office of the Kerala state health minister did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for details of the case. India, the world's most populous country, had so far not reported an mpox case from the new strain but federal authorities had issued an advisory this month to all states to remain vigilant and be prepared to address potential cases.
The caution followed the rapid spread that prompted the World Health Organisation to declare the outbreak a global health emergency after the new offshoot, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, began spreading to neighbouring countries. India had reported about.