The latest and more virulent strain of Mpox, clade 1b, has been detected for the first time in India in a youth undergoing treatment in Malappuram. The 38-year-old man, a native of Edavanna, had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates.

The clade 1b variant first detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo led to the World Health Organisation declaring Mpox a public health emergency last month. Earlier this month, a 26-year-old from Hisar in Haryana was confirmed with the West African clade 2 variant of Mpox.

India has reported 30 cases of Mpox to date since WHO declared it a public health emergency.

Kerala's Health Minister Veena George had recently said the state government was awaiting the result of genome sequencing to determine the variant. “The clade IIb variant has lesser infectivity compared to clade Ib,” Veena George had said the other day.

Meanwhile, the state health department has urged the public, especially those returning from abroad, to alert the authorities and seek treatment if they have symptoms of Mpox. The illness manifests itself with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes. Mpox infections are transmitted through prolonged and close contact with an infected patient.