Mpox Outbreak In India: Health Ministry Confirms First Positive Case In the Country

The government has confirmed a mpox case in India, but said it was an isolated one and that it was different from the strain, which was declared as a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).The government has said testing had confirmed presence of 'clade 2' of the virus, and that the particular strain is "similar to 30 cases reported earlier in India, from July 2022 onwards".

A 'clade' refers to a biological grouping that refers to all evolutionary descendants of a common ancestor or, in this case, a particular strain of virus. The Centre on Monday advised states and union territories to screen and test all suspect mpox cases in the community. State officials have been instructed to establish isolation facilities in hospitals for both suspected and confirmed patients. Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra also urged states and union territories to prevent undue panic among the public. “No new case of mpox has been reported in India in the current outbreak, and none of the samples in suspected cases has tested positive,” he said.

The World Health Organization describes mpox as a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus. The virus has two distinct clades: clade I (which includes subclades Ia and Ib) and clade II (which includes subclades IIa and IIb).Previous outbreaks of mpox were associated with the clade IIb strain. However, the current wave of infections is attributed to a more concerning strain from clades Ia and Ib.The disease can be spread due to close contact or contaminated objects such as clothing or linen. It has 7-8 main symptoms: the first being a rash, and others range from fever to sore throat, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes. According to WHO, mpox rash usually first appears on the face.