A young male patient, who recently returned to India from a country with active Mpox transmission, has been identified as a suspected Mpox case, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
The Ministry did not release details about the case or the place of occurrence, but maintained that the patient has been isolated in a designated hospital, where his condition is reported to be stable.
Samples have been collected from the patient to confirm whether he has contracted Mpox, previously known as monkeypox.
Contact tracing is also being done “to identify potential sources and assess the impact within the country”, the Ministry said.
“The development of this case is consistent with the earlier risk assessment conducted by the [National Centre for Disease Control] NCDC and there is no cause of any undue concern,” the Ministry said.
Mpox is suspected when a patient develops fever, headache, muscle pain, back pain, weakness, and/or fatigue along with a developing skin rash that starts in the tongue and mouth before spreading to other parts of the body, especially among people who have travelled to countries with endemic Mpox, or those who have come in contact with a suspected or confirmed case of Mpox.
It is also accompanied with swollen lymph nodes. High risk groups have been identified as those who are immunocompromised, children, elderly, pregnant women, and people with multiple sexual partners. (The Hindu)