Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Thursday that India’s first monkeypox case has been reported in Kollam.
“There is nothing to fear or worry about. All steps are being taken and the victim is stable,” the fitness minister said.
Close contacts of the patient include his father and mother and they have been kept under comment at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College (TVM). Signs and symptoms of monkeypox are diagnosed in TVM.
The health minister said, “He traveled from the United Arab Emirates. He reached Trivandrum Airport on 12 July. His friend from the UAE tested positive for monkeypox a few days ago. His close acquaintances include his father and mother.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted from animals to humans) with symptoms similar to those seen in patients with smallpox in the past, although it is clinically much less severe.
With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and the subsequent discontinuation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus in public health.
