India has reported the first case of Mpox Clade 1 strain, which led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare Mpox as a public health emergency last month.
The Mpox clade 1 strain has been reported from Malappuram district, Kerala. The 38-year-old man had returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to health authorities, the patient is stable and is currently under observation.
"This was the first case of the current strain that led to the World Health Organisation declaring Mpox a public health emergency last month for a second time," the official sources said.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George had already appealed to the public, especially those returning from abroad to watch out for the symptoms. She also urged the public to inform the health department and seek treatment at the earliest as well.
Earlier, a 26-year-old resident of Haryana's Hisar tested positive for the previous West African Clade 2 strain earlier this month.
Mpox clade 1b is a type of monkeypox which is currently endemic in Central Africa and can cause severe illness.
Over 30,000 suspected cases of Mpox have been reported from Africa this year so far, with most of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo where tests have run out.
According to the UN health body, more than 800 people died of suspected Mpox across the continent in that time. Congo's central African neighbour Burundi has also been hit by a growing outbreak, the organisation said.