Kerala man tests positive for Mpox, 2nd case in country

A 38-year-old man who arrived in Kerala from Dubai last week tested positive for Mpox on Wednesday, health minister Veena George said on Wednesday.
Health officials said the man, resident of Edavanna in Malappuram district, reached the outpatient department of the Government Medical College Hospital in Manjeri on September 16 with symptoms of fever and skin rashes.
Doctors, who found the symptoms similar to the infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), admitted him in the isolation ward of the hospital and alerted the health department.
His fluid samples, sent for testing at the microbiology lab of the Kozhikode Medical College hospital, came back positive on Wednesday.
“The patient continues in the isolation wing of the hospital and is in a stable condition,” said a district health official.
He added that a preliminary list of contacts of the patient has been prepared and those on it have been asked to remain in isolation and watch for symptoms.
Anvar KT, a ward member of Edavanna panchayat where the patient resides, said the 38-year-old had arrived from Dubai on Sept 12.
“The next day, he visited a local health clinic to consult a doctor for fever and skin rashes symptoms. During Onam festivities over the weekend, he is reported to have met a few friends, all of whom have been asked to go into isolation. He went to the Govt MCH in Manjeri when his fever and rashes refused to subside,” said the ward member.
Medical teams are expected to arrive in the panchayat on Thursday for surveillance and further measures.
“Those arriving in the state from other countries and experiencing symptoms must inform the health department and seek treatment. Treatment and isolation facilities are available at 14 government hospitals and all medical college hospitals in the state,” said the state health minister, sharing contact numbers of nodal medical officers of such facilities on her official social media accounts.
The minister asked the public to remain vigilant in the backdrop of the reporting of the mpox case and said that surveillance facilities had been strengthened at all airports in the state in accordance with guidelines of the union government in the wake of global rise in the number of infections.
“The state had released a standard operating procedure (SOP) when it had first reported an mpox case in 2022. We have ensured isolation, treatment and sample collection facilities as per the SOP. All government and private hospitals must adhere to the protocols,” she urged.
Earlier on Sept 7, a native of Hisar in Haryana was confirmed as an Mpox positive patient and was isolated at a tertiary care facility in Delhi. The union health ministry had stated that it was an isolated case similar to the 30 cases reported in India from July 2022 onwards.
According to WHO, monkeypox virus is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus of the Orthopoxvirus genus and has two distinct clades. In 2022, a global outbreak of clade IIb began which continues to this day. The infection spreads from person to person mainly through close contact and its common symptoms are fever, sore throat, headache, swollen lymph nodes and muscle aches.