India has confirmed its first case of the more dangerous mpox strain, clade 1b, health authorities announced on Tuesday. A 38-year-old man from Kerala tested positive after returning from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to India’s Health Ministry, the case was reported in Kerala’s Malappuram district, The Telegraph said.
Local authorities are monitoring 29 family members and 37 passengers from his flight, though none have shown symptoms.
India is the third country outside Africa to report a clade 1b mpox case, following Thailand, Pakistan and Sweden.
Experts are urging investigations into whether the virus is circulating undetected in the UAE, where homosexuality is illegal, potentially leading to underreporting due to stigma.
Clade 1b was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 26,500 infections and 724 deaths recorded across 14 countries this year.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared the virus a global health crisis. Mpox transmits through close physical contact but does not spread easily through the air.
India had previously reported around 30 cases and one death from the less severe clade 2 strain between 2022 and March 2023.