Kerala reports second Mpox case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT 27 : Health department has confirmed Mpox on a 26-year-old youth who returned from UAE, in Ernakulam on Friday. He is under treatment in a private hospital at the city. His samples were tested at the National Institute of Virology lab in Alappuzha. The samples have been sent for genomic sequencing at the National Institute of Virology in Pune .

This is the second Mpox cases in the state and third in the country this year.

Earlier 38-year-old man from Edavanna in Malappuram was tested positive of the disease on September 18. Later it was found that his infection was due to the Clade 1b strain of the virus. Following this isolation facilities have been established in all districts and surveillance has been strengthened. The department also plans to update the guidelines for prevention and effective treatment of Mpox in the state.

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. There are two distinct clades of the virus: clade I (with subclades Ia and Ib) and clade II (with subclades IIa and IIb).

-PTI