A person who returned from abroad has been admitted to a hospital in Kerala after he showed symptoms of monkeypox, state Health Minister Veena George said here on Thursday.
The minister said his samples have been collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology for testing.
She said the disease could be confirmed only after getting the test results.
Without revealing more details, George said the person showed symptoms of monkeypox and he was in close contact with a monkeypox patient abroad.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health.
Monkeypox is a virus with the potential to cause significant harm to the public including acute painful illness that may require hospitalisation, and may result in death, skin scarring, blindness, and other long-term disability. The most vulnerable to severe disease include children, pregnant people, and people who are immunocompromised.
