India reports first case of monkeypox

India has reported its first confirmed case of monkeypox after a 35-year-old man with a history of travel to the Middle East showed symptoms, officials said.

According to an official statement, the federal government sent a multidisciplinary team to the southern state of Kerala in response to the confirmed case of monkeypox there.

The man, who traveled to Kerala from the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, is in a stable condition and is isolated in a hospital, state health minister Veena George told reporters on Thursday.

“He is stable and all his vital signs are normal. We have asked all districts to be on high alert,” she said.

The patient’s primary contacts have also been placed in isolation, while passengers who came into contact with him on his flight have been told to monitor themselves for symptoms.

Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans from infected animals. Human-to-human transmission is possible, but is considered rare.

Outside West and Central African countries, where the disease has long been endemic, an increase in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May.

So far, confirmed cases in non-endemic areas are generally mild and no deaths have been reported.

It is considered much less dangerous and contagious than smallpox, which was eradicated more than 40 years ago.

The first symptoms of monkeypox are fever over 38.5 degrees Celsius, headache, muscle and back pain over the course of five days.

Rashes then appear on the face, palms, and soles, followed by lesions, spots, and finally scabs.

Transmission occurs through close and prolonged contact between two people, mainly via saliva or pus pus formed during infection.

According to the WHO, most monkeypox infections to date have been observed in men who have sex with men, at a young age and mainly in urban areas.

Depending on the variant – there are two – the disease has a mortality rate of between one and ten percent in endemic countries.

But medical care reduces the risk significantly. Most people recover on their own, and outbreaks usually die off on their own due to the low transmissibility of the virus.