Monkeypox Strain Of UAE Returnees Unlike Europe Variant: National Institute Of Virology

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New Delhi: An analysis of India’s first two monkeypox cases by an institute of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed that the duo who returned from the UAE were infected with the virus strain A.2 – different from the one causing the outbreak in Europe.

The A.2 strain, which was detected in the US last year, has not been linked to major clusters. The current outbreak is being driven by the B.1 strain of monkeypox virus, Dr Pragya Yadav, a senior scientist at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) and lead author of the study, said, according to news agency PTI.

The findings of the study have been published in Research Square, a pre-print server, and have not been peer-reviewed. India has reported nine cases of monkeypox and one death so far.