Delhi reports its first case of monkeypox; overall fourth case in India

Delhi has confirmed its first case of monkeypox on July 24, 2022, a day after it was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organisation.The 31-year-old resident of west Delhi has been hospitalised.This is India's fourth case, with the remaining three from Kerala.On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox as a global public health emergency.

Elaborating on the virus - which has now spread to 75 countries and has reported more than 17,000 cases across the world, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that there is a “clear risk of further international spread” although the risk of interference with global traffic remains “low at the moment”.“So in short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations,” Ghebreyesus added, while speaking at the UN health agency's press briefing.The WHO underlined that a large number of monkeypox cases have been reported among men who have sex with men. He, however, urged an discrimination-free approach to combat the latest global outbreak.