Amid one suspected case of Mpox detected in India, health experts on Monday advised not to panic as the monkeypox virus (MPXV) has minimal pandemic potential.
The government on Sunday informed a suspected case of Mpox in a young male patient in the country, who has been isolated in a designated hospital and is under investigation.
The patient recently travelled from a country currently experiencing Mpox transmission. “The patient has been isolated in a designated hospital and is currently stable,” said the ministry.
“There is no need to panic. While fatality remains high, transmission is possible only among close contacts,” Dr. Harshal R Salve, Additional professor, centre for community medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi said.
“Subliminal infections are all minimal, hence chances of widespread pandemic with monkeypox is minimal,” he added.
Mpox is a viral disease identified as fever, rash, and lymphadenopathy — a condition that causes lymph nodes to swell or become abnormally shaped or sized. It is a self-limiting disease and patients recover within 4 weeks, Salve said.
The suspected case of Mpox in India comes amidst a global outbreak that has spread to about 13 countries in Africa, forcing the WHO to declare it a global health emergency. The outbreak is driven majorly by a more deadly strain — Clade 1b. Outside of Africa, Clade 1b has to date caused one case each in Sweden and Thailand.