First monkeypox case reported in Delhi, man with no foreign travel history tests positive; India's tally rises to four

New Delhi: National capital Delhi reported its first monkeypox case after a 31-year-old man with no foreign travel history has tested positive for the virus.

Sources to news agency PTI said that the man had recently attended a stag party recently in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune on Saturday and the report came out positive.

The health officials have initiated the contact tracing process.

This is India's fourth monkeypox case. The first three were reported from Kerala among people who recently returned from the Middle East.

The monkeypox infected patient in the national capital is a resident of west Delhi and is admitted to Maulana Azad Medical College, the Health Ministry said.

"The patient was admitted to the hospital with fever and skin lesions," news agency ANI quoted Health Ministry officials as saying.

The report of Delhi case comes a day after the World Health Organization, or WHO, on Saturday (23 July, 2022), declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency.

Don't Miss: Monkeypox declared global health emergency by WHO after outbreak in over 70 countries

Meanwhile, the WHO has called on countries in the South-East Asia region, including India, to intensify surveillance and public health measures for monkeypox.

Expressing concerns over rapidly spreading disease, the first Indian elected as Region Director of WHO, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh said that monkeypox cases are being reported in the countries that have not seen it before.

Must Read: Monkeypox cases concentrated among men who have sex with men: WHO

She further said that monkeypox cases are concentrated among men who have sex with men and that it is possible to curtail further spread of the disease with focused efforts among at-risk population.

"Globally, over 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 75 countries," the WHO said.

How monkeypox virus spreads?

According to the WHO, the monkeypox virus is transmitted from infected animals to humans via indirect or direct contact.

Human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with infectious skin or lesions, including face-to-face, skin-to-skin, and respiratory droplets. In the current outbreak countries and amongst the reported monkeypox cases, transmission appears to be occurring primarily through close physical contact, including sexual contact.

Transmission can also occur from contaminated materials such as linens, bedding, electronics, clothing, that have infectious skin particles.

With inputs from agencies

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