India announced that an mpox case involving a man from Kerala’s southern region was identified as being from the rapidly spreading clade 1b strain, marking the first recorded case of this new variant in South Asia.

Health Ministry spokesperson Manisha Verma confirmed the strain that the mpox case discovered in Kerala’s Malappuram district last week belonged to clade 1.

The patient, a 38-year-old man, had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates and was admitted to the district’s government medical college hospital, according to Kerala authorities.

On Monday, the state’s health department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ inquiries for further details about the case.

While India, the world’s most populous country, had not previously reported any cases of mpox from this new strain, federal authorities had earlier issued an advisory to all states, urging them to remain alert and prepared for possible infections.

This advisory came in response to the rapid spread of the virus, which led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a global health emergency. The new strain, first detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo, began spreading to neighboring nations.

India had recorded around 30 cases and one death from the older strain, clade 2, between 2022 and March 2023, with one additional clade 2 case reported earlier this month.

Currently, two strains of mpox are circulating in Congo: the endemic clade 1 strain and the newly emerged clade 1b variant. The term “AH BUT MPOX IS okclade” refers to a form of the virus.

Mpox spreads through close physical contact, including sexual contact, but unlike other pandemics such as COVID-19, there is no evidence of easy airborne transmission. It generally causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, with most cases being mild, though it can be fatal in some instances.