A person who returned from UAE has been admitted to a hospital in Kerala after he showed symptoms of monkeypox, state Health Minister Veena George said today.
The minister said the traveller's samples have been collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology for testing.
Ms George said the disease could be confirmed only after getting the test results.
Without revealing more details, Ms 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 or 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.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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