Important Takeaways:

• India has confirmed its first case of a deadlier strain of mpox, which has raised alarm among health officials around the world over the rapid pace of its spread.
• The clade Ib strain of the virus was confirmed by health authorities in the southern state of Kerala after being detected last week in a 38-year-old man who had recently traveled to Dubai.
• Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to WHO.
• Symptoms include fever, rash, lesions, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.
• The virus is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. A clade is a broad grouping of viruses that has evolved over decades. Clade II was responsible for a global outbreak that WHO also declared a global health emergency from July 2022 to May 2023. Clade Ib causes more severe disease.
• Authorities had identified 29 people who came into contact with the patient and they are now in self-quarantine, he said.
• Some 37 passengers on the flight from Dubai to Kerala and five other close contacts of the patient are being monitored, he added.

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