Kerala has confirmed its second Mpox (monkeypox) case, with a 26-year-old youth from Ernakulam testing positive for the virus.
The patient, who recently returned from the UAE, is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital. His samples were tested at the National Institute of Virology lab in Alappuzha. The samples have been sent for genomic sequencing at the National Institute of Virology, Pune.
This is the second Mpox case in the state and third in the country this year. Earlier, a 38-year-old man from Edavanna in Malappuram, who had travelled from the UAE, was tested positive of the disease on September 18. Later it was found that his infection was due to the Clade 1b strain of the virus.
With two cases now reported in Kerala, health authorities are on high alert, monitoring potential contacts and implementing measures to prevent further transmission.
Initially, Mpox was a zoonotic disease transmitted from animals to humans. However, it has now evolved into a disease that can spread directly between humans. Although its severity is lower, monkeypox shares symptoms with smallpox, caused by the orthopoxvirus, which was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980.