kerala : India reported its first death purportedly due to monkeypox disease in Kerala on Saturday, ANI reported.
The 22-year-old man was a resident of Thrissur district in the state, The News Minute reported. He had returned to Kerala from the United Arab Emirates on July 21 and was admitted to a private hospital in Thrissur on July 27 after he developed encephalitis, fever and swollen lymph nodes.
State Health Minister Veena George said that it was revealed only after the patient’s death that he had tested positive for the monkeypox virus in Ras Al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates on July 19.
“This particular variant of monkeypox is not highly virulent or contagious like Covid-19, but it does spread,” she said.
On July 23, the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency. The classification is the highest level of alert that the World Health Organization can issue and is expected to force governments into action.
The Union government had initiated surveillance of the disease at airports in May. However, the surveillance can only suspect a case if the arriving passenger has fever or any tangibly visible symptom like skin rash.
