• India has confirmed its first monkeypox death.
• A 22-year-old male who had recently arrived from the United Arab Emirates perished.
• The illness is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same virus family as smallpox.

India has confirmed its first monkeypox death in the southern state of Kerala. On Saturday, a 22-year-old male who had recently arrived in the state from the United Arab Emirates perished.

According to Kerala Health Minister Veena George, the individual tested positive for the infection abroad. She revealed the infection in samples examined following his death on Monday.

Outside of Africa, this is the fourth monkeypox death reported globally.

According to the minister, twenty of the man’s close acquaintances have been classified as “high risk” and isolated.

These folks include his friends, relatives, and nine people with whom he recently played football.

The illness is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same virus family as smallpox, though it is considerably less severe and the odds of infection are low, according to doctors.

Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency.

Ms George stated that after the guy died in Kerala, the state government appointed a high-level committee to investigate his medical findings.

Ms George noted that the young man had had a fever and enlarged lymph nodes when he was brought to a private hospital on July 27.

He, on the other hand, had no rashes on his body, and the physicians saw no grounds to suspect monkeypox, she claimed.

The man tested positive for the virus in the UAE on July 19, just days before leaving for Kerala, but his family did not notify health officials until July 30, the minister said on Monday.

His condition, however, swiftly deteriorated in the hospital, and he died while on ventilator support, she noted.

According to her, his samples were transferred to the National Institute of Virology, which confirmed monkeypox on Monday.

Authorities will now look into why the man waited so long to seek medical attention.

Passengers on his flight from the UAE to Kerala have been notified of the situation. Ms. George, on the other hand, stated that there is no need for alarm at this time because they were not in close contact with him.

So far, India has documented four cases of monkeypox, three in Kerala and one in Delhi.

The first patient, who tested positive on July 14, was treated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala’s capital (formerly Trivandrum).

Ms. George said on Saturday that he later healed and was discharged from the hospital.

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