1st Monkeypox case in India confirmed in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: The person suspected of being infected with monkeypox, who returned to Kerala from abroad, has tested monkeypox positive, PTI reported citing state Health Minister Veena George. The case became the first in Kerala as well as the whole of India.

Earlier, the patient's samples were collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology for testing, according to the minister's statement on Thursday. The individual showed symptoms and was in close contact with a monkeypox patient abroad.

The reported case is the first on the disease in Kerala.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.

With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and the subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health.