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Monkeypox in India: Suspected patient dies in Kerala, health officials say

22-year-old man returned from Gulf country 3 days ago and was suffering from high fever

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In a suspected case of monkeypox infection, a 22-year-old man died at a private hospital in Kerala’s Thrissur district on Saturday. The youth, who returned from a Gulf country, was admitted to the hospital three days back.

According to local media, health officials rushed samples of the deceased to the National Institute of Virology, a regional centre in Alappuzha, for confirmation.

Doctors who treated the patient said the man’s symptoms were similar to monkeypox. According to one of the doctors, the patient did not have red marks or blisters when he was admitted. But later, such symptoms started appearing on his body.

Since he travelled from a high-risk country, the patient was admitted to an isolation ward.

The family members have been asked to perform the last rites as per the WHO protocols.

Monkeypox deaths

Spain reported Saturday a second death in as many days from monkeypox. These are believed to be the first confirmed fatalities from the disease in Europe since its recent spread beyond Africa.

The ministry based in Madrid said both fatalities were young men. It reported its first death on Friday, the same day that Brazil also reported its first death from monkeypox.

There have been 75 suspected deaths in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and Congo, where a more lethal form of monkeypox is spreading than in the West.

Global outbreak

The global monkeypox outbreak has seen more than 22,000 cases in nearly 80 countries since May.

In the US and Europe, the vast majority of monkeypox infections have happened in men who have sex with men, though health officials have stressed that anyone can catch the virus.

The deaths outside Africa come one week after the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency.

Officials in New York City declared a public health emergency due to the spread of the monkeypox virus Saturday, calling the city “the epicenter” of the outbreak.

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