Bengaluru, Jan 23 A case of Monkeypox (MPox) was confirmed on 22nd January 2025 by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune in a 40-year-old male in Mangaluru, a native of Karkala in Udupi district, an official of the Karnataka Department of Health and Family Welfare said on Thursday.
He added that the patient, who has been residing in Dubai for the past 19 years, arrived in Mangalore on January 17.
“Upon his arrival, he exhibited symptoms of rashes and had a history of fever two days prior. He was promptly isolated at a private hospital, and his MPox samples were referred to Bangalore Medical College (BMC) and subsequently to NIV, Pune,” he said.
He added that the person is stable and does not have any serious complications.
“He is likely to be discharged shortly. The patient’s 36-year-old wife, who received him at the airport has been identified as a primary contact and has been advised isolation for a few days to watch the development of any symptoms,” he said
A government statement said that in general, Mpox is a mild self-limiting disease in most cases, except for a few immune-compromised patients having co-morbidities who need to exercise greater caution. The treatment for the disease is generally management of symptoms like medication for fever, body aches and antibiotics for secondary infection from infected lesions/rashes etc as well as ensuring sufficient hydration, nutrition, rest, etc.
Further, Mpox generally spreads only through very close and intimate contact. The infectivity of the disease is not as severe as that of Covid, it noted.
The public is advised not to panic about the reporting of the above-said case in view of the mild nature of the disease as well as its much lesser infectivity. But they are advised to watch for common symptoms associated with the disease like skin rashes along with fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, sweating, sore throat & cough and get themselves tested, especially if they have a travel history to countries declared as high risk for this virus or if they have been in very close contact with persons affected with M Pox.
There are no advisories or special instructions from the Central government at present with regard to mandatory testing of travellers from other countries.
Further, though there is a vaccine for M-Pox which is generally advised for high-risk populations like healthcare workers, the same is not advised by the Central government presently in view of a very insignificant number of cases of M-Pox detected to date, the release stated.
Sources stated that this is the first case of Mpox in the country.
--IANS
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