Isolated Mpox Case Confirmed In India, Not Part Of Severe Clade 1 Strain

New Delhi: The Indian government on Monday confirmed its first case of Mpox in a young male who tested positive for a strain from western Africa.

Describing the isolated case as “travel-related”, the government said the patient is in stable condition, and is without systemic illness or comorbidities. He was isolated over the weekend on suspicion of carrying the virus.

Assuring that there is no indication of any widespread risk to the public right now, the government informed that testing had confirmed presence of ‘clade 2’ of the virus, a strain “similar to 30 cases reported earlier in India, from July 2022 onwards.”

However, the clade 2 strain of the virus is “not a part of the current public health emergency (declared last month by the World Health Organization), which is regarding ‘clade 1’ of the Mpox virus.”

A ‘clade’ is a biological grouping that refers to all evolutionary descendants of a common ancestor or, in this case, a particular strain of virus.

The Central government, though, is not taking any chances.

The Union Health Ministry earlier in the day issued directives to state governments to “review public health preparedness, particularly at health facility level at state and districts by senior officials.”

The government also highlighted that it is “crucial” to guard against “undue panic.”