NEW DELHI: India reported on Monday that a case of mpox involving a man in Kerala is from the fast-spreading clade 1b strain, marking the first recorded instance of this new variant in South Asia.
Health Ministry spokesperson Manisha Verma confirmed the strain after ANI cited official sources indicating that the case from Malappuram district belonged to clade 1.
The patient, a 38-year-old man admitted to a government medical college hospital in the district, according to Kerala authorities. The state health department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ inquiries regarding the case.
India, the world’s most populous nation, had not previously reported an mpox case from the new strain, but federal authorities issued an advisory earlier this month urging all states to remain vigilant for potential cases.
This caution followed the rapid spread of mpox that led the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency, as the new variant, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, began spreading to neighboring countries.
Between 2022 and March this year, India recorded about 30 cases and one death from the older clade 2 strain, with one additional clade 2 case reported earlier this month. Currently, two strains of mpox are spreading in Congo: the endemic clade 1 and the emerging clade 1b.
Mpox is transmitted through close physical contact, including sexual contact. Unlike previous pandemics such as Covid-19, there is no evidence that it spreads easily through the air. Symptoms typically include flu-like signs and pus-filled lesions, and while the illness is usually mild, it can be fatal in some cases.
