Man with seemingly no foreign travel history tests positive for monkeypox in Delhi

Delhi has reported the first case of monkeypox virus after a man with likely no history of foreign travel tested positive on Sunday. The 31-year-old resident of west Delhi has been hospitalised.

This is India's fourth case, with the remaining three from Kerala.

On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox as a global public health emergency.

Elaborating on the virus - which has now spread to 75 countries and has reported more than 17,000 cases across the world, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that there is a "clear risk of further international spread" although the risk of interference with global traffic remains "low at the moment".

"So in short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations," Ghebreyesus added, while speaking at the UN health agency's press briefing.

The WHO underlined that a large number of monkeypox cases have been reported among men who have sex with men. He, however, urged an discrimination-free approach to combat the latest global outbreak.

Meanwhile, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director of WHO South-East Asia Region, said that it is possible to reduce the further spread of the zoonotic disease with focused efforts among the at-risk population.

She echoed Ghebreyesus in noting that these efforts and measures should be "sensitive, devoid of stigma or discrimination".

"Though the risk of Monkeypox globally and in the (southeast Asia) region is moderate, the potential of its further international spread is real. Also, there are still many unknowns about the virus. We need to stay alert and prepared to roll out intense response to curtail further spread of Monkeypox," Singh added.

According to the WHO, the zoonotic disease is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal with "lesions, body fluids and respiratory droplets", or with material contaminated with the monkeypox virus.

Notably, India's first monkeypox case was detected earlier this month in Kerala, following which the Centre rushed a multidisciplinary team to the region to allay the outbreak. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has trained as many as 15 research diagnostic laboratories across the country for early detection of the virus.

Furthermore, the central government released a host of guidelines to check the virus spread in India, including those at the entry points to the country. International passengers have been advised to avoid close contact with sick persons, dead or live wild animals, and others. They have also been advised against eating or preparing meat from wild game or using items such as powders and lotions, derived from wild animals from Africa.

Additionally, if a person develops symptoms of the virus, including fever and skin rash, and were in a region where monkeypox has been reported or had come in contact with someone who may have contracted it, then he/she is advised to immediately consult the nearest health facility.