India's first case of monkeypox death confirmed; contacts monitored, genomic sequencing in progress

Kerala: India has reported its first death due to monkeypox in Kerala. State Health Minister Veena George on Monday confirmed that the test reports of a 22-year-old male with monkeypox symptoms who died on July 30 came back positive for the viral zoonotic infection. The youth passed away in Kerala's Thrissur district yesterday after having arrived in the state from a middle-eastern country earlier this month.

"A young boy returned from UAE on July 22, he was with his family when on July 26 he developed a fever & was admitted on July 27. On July 28 he was moved to a ventilator. He got tested on July 19 for monkeypox in UAE, the result of which was positive. The person died on July 30. Health dept teams went there, samples were sent to NIV, and test results showed he was monkeypox positive. The team constituted genomic sequencing being done at NIV," Kerala Health Minister Veena George noted.

Veena George further informed that 20 other people who were in contact with the deceased and identified as being at high risk for the disease are being kept under observation. "As per the protocol, 20 people who were identified as being at high risk are kept under observation. These include family members, friends and medical staff who might have come in contact with the deceased," she said.

Notably, the 22-year-old deceased youth had played football with his friends after arriving home on July 22. All of them had been asked to go in isolation after the youth was detected with the disease.

"This particular variant of monkeypox is not as highly virulent or contagious like COVID-19, but it does spread. Comparatively, the mortality rate of this variant is low. Therefore, we will examine why the 22-year-old man died in this particular case as he had no other illness or health problems," Kerala Health Minister Veena George said yesterday.