India reports suspected Mpox case; Govt says no cause for alarm

New Delhi: A man who recently travelled from a country experiencing Mpox transmission has been identified as a suspected case of the disease, the Union health ministry said on Sunday. The patient has been isolated at a designated hospital and is currently stable, it said, adding that there is no cause for concern.

Samples have been collected from the man and are being tested to confirm the presence of Mpox.

"The case is being managed in line with established protocols, and contact tracing is ongoing to identify potential sources and assess the impact within the country," the ministry said.

The development of this case is consistent with the earlier risk assessment conducted by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and there is no cause of any undue concern, it said.

The country is fully prepared to deal with such isolated travel-related cases and has robust measures in place to manage and mitigate any potential risk, the ministry added. India is on high alert as Pakistan confirmed five cases recently.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that the Mpox outbreak, which spreads through close contact, represents a global health emergency for the second time in two years. Mpox transmits through close physical contact, including sexual contact, but there is no evidence that it spreads easily through the air. The new offshoot has caused global alarm because it appears to spread more easily between people. 

Mpox, also known as monkeypox, had spread mostly undetected for years in Africa before the disease prompted the 2022 outbreak in more than 70 countries, Dr Dimie Ogoina, the chair of WHO's  Mpox emergency committee told reporters last month. In August, WHO declared Mpox infection a public health emergency on the African continent, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(With PTI, Reuters inputs)