State Health Minister Veena George on Monday confirmed that the test reports of a 22-year-old person with monkeypox symptoms who died on July 30 were found to be positive for the viral zoonotic infection.
Meanwhile, a 35-year-old Nigerian man living in the national capital, with no recent international travel history, tests positive for monkeypox, said official sources.
India has reported six monkeypox cases so far including four from Kerala and two from Delhi. The patient is admitted to Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital which comes under the government of Delhi. News agency also reported Rajashtan has reported its first suspected case of monkeypox.
In Kerala, the youth, who died yesterday, hailed from Chavakkad Kuranjiyur in Thrissur district tested positive in UAE and died in Kerala on July 30. “On the evening of July 26 he developed abnormal jerking and he had fever too. On 27 July he was admitted and on July 28 he was moved to the ventilator.
On July 30 the hospital authorities informed the Health Department that he got tested on July 19 for monkeypox in UAE and the result of which was positive. Our team went there, unfortunately, that person died in the evening. As per our procedure, we had sent the samples to National Institute of Virology (NIV) Alappuzha and test results show that he was positive for monkeypox,” said George.
He was also treated for Encephalitis and altered seizures and other diseases and he was given antibiotics.
Currently, 20 high-risk contacts are under observation which includes three health workers, a doctor and two nursing staff from the private hospital.
The Health Minister said that it is unsure whether the family has withheld the information that the person was tested in UAE.
“We constituted a state-level team including state medical board members to enquire what really has happened. And the genomic sequencing of sample is being done at NIV,” she added.
She further pointed out that on his day of arrival at Calicut Airport he was not showing any symptoms of fever or rashes during the thermal scanning but he had a fever four weeks ago and on July 26 he developed it again. “A Preliminary report says that it is a West African variant,” she said. The Minister said that the state Health Department has ensured that every person will undergo thermal scanning at the airport so if the person has a high fever he or she can go to the help desk..
India has reported five cases of monkeypox so far, of which three cases are from Kerala, one is from Delhi and one from Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur.
Meanwhile, centre has formed a task force in the wake of monkeypox cases in India to monitor and provide guidance to the government on the expansion of diagnostic facilities and to explore vaccination for the infection in the country. The decision was taken during a meeting which was attended by Cabinet secretary, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Additional Secretary (PMO) and other senior officials. “The team will be headed by Dr VK Paul, member (Health), NITI Aayog and members including Secretary, Union Health Ministry, Pharma and Biotech,” sources said.