India reports first suspected mpox case in man who travelled from affected country

India’s health ministry says there is ‘no cause of any undue concern’

India reported its first suspected case of mpox in a man who had travelled from a country facing an outbreak of the virus, the health ministry said.

The man has been isolated in a designated hospital for treatment and is reported to be in a stable condition.

The ministry did not specify where the case was detected or the strain of the virus, but said efforts to find people who might have come in contact with the patient were underway.

“A young male patient, who recently travelled from a country experiencing mpox transmission has been identified as a suspect case of mpox,” the ministry said.

"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 there was “no cause of any undue concern”.

“The country is fully prepared to deal with such an isolated travel-related case and has robust measures in place to manage and mitigate any potential risk,” it said.

The WHO declared mpox a “public health emergency of international concern”, its highest level of alert, last month. It called on member states to fund a $135m-plan to fight the spread of the virus after doctors raised concerns about a new deadlier strain, known as Clade 1b that has spread through several African countries, particularly Burundi, Central African Republic, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Mpox is from the same virus family as smallpox but produces milder symptoms of fever, chills and body ache. Serious cases can lead to lesions on the face, hand, chest, and genitals.

Sweden reported Europe’s first case of Clade 1b on 15 August. In Asia, Thailand reported the first case on 22 August and Pakistan and the Philippines each reported suspected cases of the virus thereafter.

India put its airports, seaports and land crossings on alert last month in view of the spread of the mpox virus and prepared some government hospitals and laboratories for a possible outbreak.

Clade 2 caused a public health emergency in 2022 but was deemed relatively mild. Clade 1 has a high fatality rate and a mutant strain of it, called Clade 1b, has spread rapidly.