India Reports First Case Of Mpox From Fast-Spreading 'Clade 1b' Variety

The patient is a 38-year-old man who had travelled from the United Arab Emirates and had been admitted to the government medical college hospital in the district, Kerala authorities said last week

The Centre today said that an mpox case involving a man in Kerala was from the fast-spreading clade 1b variety, marking South Asia's first recorded case from the new strain. Health Ministry spokesperson Manisha Verma confirmed the strain after news agency ANI cited official sources as saying that the mpox case reported in Malappuram district of Kerala last week belonged to clade 1.

The patient is a 38-year-old man who had travelled from the United Arab Emirates and had been admitted to the government medical college hospital in the district, Kerala authorities said last week.

About 29 friends and family members of the patient along with 37 passengers on his flight are being monitored at home but none of them have shown any mpox symptoms so far, Malappuram district's nodal officer, Dr Shubin C, told Reuters on Monday.