The Centre has issued an advisory following the detection of India’s first Mpox clade 1b case. Issuing fresh advisory to states and union territories, the Union Health Ministry has asked them to isolate suspected cases of mpox, previously known as monkeypox. The patient, a 38-year-old man from Kerala’s Malappuram who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates, is currently stable and under observation.This marks not only India’s but also South Asia’s first recorded instance of this new strain.
The Health Ministry’s advisory, directed at all states and union territories, warns of the Mpox infection and notes that the clinical presentation of Mpox clade 1 in adults is similar to clade 2. However, it highlights that complications may be higher with clade 1 infections.The Department of Health and Family Welfare has instructed for isolation of all suspected Mpox cases and implementation of strict infection prevention control measures.
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Clade 1 is the fast-spreading and severe viral strain that has been declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
In the advisory, Union Health Secretary Aprurva Chandra asked the states to send samples from skin lesions of patients with suspected symptoms to designated labs immediately.
Those who test positive will have their samples sent to Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), Pune, for genome sequencing to determine the clade, the advisory said.
He said that robust diagnostic testing capabilities are already available, with 36 ICMR-supported labs across the country and three commercial PCR kits validated by ICMR and approved by Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
States were directed to identify isolation facilities in hospitals for suspected and confirmed cases, equipped with logistics and trained staff.
The advisory asked states and UTs to continue undertaking appropriate activities to make communities aware of the disease, its modes of spread, and the need for timely reporting and preventive measures.
“It is crucial that any panic amongst the masses is prevented,” the advisory said. Outside Africa, one case each of mpox clade 1b has been recently reported from Sweden and Thailand. India is now the third country to report this fast-spreading mpox strain.
