Monkeypox: 14th case reported in India, 9th in Delhi

India on Monday reported the 14th monkeypox case after a Nigerian national tested positive in Delhi, taking the figure to nine cases in Delhi, said official sources.

The ninth case that tested positive for Monkeypox in Delhi is a case of 30-year-old Nigerian female.

Recently in an interview with ANI, Dr Suresh Kumar, Medical Director, LNJP confirmed eight cases of Nigerian females and the maximum number of cases are of African origin with no travel history and the government is doing contact tracing.

He also said that maximum cases have no significant complications. " No patient had major complications and most of them had a low-grade fever." The study is also underway in Delhi as the maximum cases are of Nigerian or African origin.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR ) has also analysed the complete genome sequences of Monkeypox cases from Kerala and Delhi from July to August 2022. In genome sequences from India covering 90-99 per cent genome was found to belong to A.2 Lineage of clade IIb.

"Further A.2 lineage is mutating and sequences from affected countries are holding the key for the evolution of Monkeypox. It's a slow and sharp alert for virologists and epidemiologists," said Dr Pragya Yadav, Senior Scientist, ICMR-NIV, Pune.