Indian authorities announced on Monday the death of a man infected with monkeypox who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates, which could be the first fatal case of the disease in Asia.
The Health Ministry of the southern Indian state of Kerala said tests on the 22-year-old victim who died on July 30 after testing positive “show the man had monkeypox.” This death is the fourth linked to this disease outside of Africa.
On July 24, the WHO issued the highest level of alert, the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (USPPI) to strengthen the fight against monkeypox, also called monkeypox.
Twenty cases of contact placed under observation
The Indian victim died a week after being hospitalized on his return from the United Arab Emirates. It was not yet clear if the cause of death was monkeypox.
“The young man had no symptoms of monkeypox. He was admitted to hospital with symptoms of encephalitis and fatigue,” Kerala Health Minister Veena George was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper on Sunday.
Twenty people identified as high risk were placed under observation, he said, including family members, friends and medical personnel, who may have been in contact with the victim.
Two dead in Spain, one in Brazil
Spain announced two monkeypox-related deaths last week, the first in Europe and the first in Brazil. However, it is unclear whether monkeypox was the cause of these three deaths. Autopsies are still ongoing in Spain. In Brazil, the authorities assure that the patient who died had other serious pathologies.
India has recorded at least four cases of the disease, the first of which was on July 15 in another man who returned to Kerala after a trip to the United Arab Emirates. Initial tests on the man who died on Saturday showed he carried the West African variant of the virus and no further tests have yet been carried out.
According to the Kerala Ministry of Health, the family did not notify doctors until July 30, the day of death, of the results of the test carried out in Dubai on July 19. 165 passengers were traveling on the same flight as him from the Emirates, but none of them had close contact with the patient, the ministry added.
Nine deaths in total worldwide
In total, including India’s announcement, there have been nine deaths worldwide since May, with the first five reported in Africa, where the disease is endemic and was first detected in humans in 1970.
Most of the contamination is concentrated in Europe, where 70% of the 18,000 cases detected since the beginning of May are located, and 25% in the Americas, according to the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom. Ghebreyesus.
The WHO Regional Office for Europe also forecasts an increase in monkeypox-related deaths, although it notes that serious complications remain rare and that the disease very often clears up on its own, even without the need for treatment. treatment.
“Stop the epidemic”
The goal must be “to rapidly interrupt the transmission of the virus in Europe and stop this epidemic,” said Catherine Smallwood, WHO Europe’s director of emergencies.
The first symptoms are a high fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a chickenpox-like rash.
For now, the WHO emphasizes that there are no vaccines for everyone and therefore recommends prioritizing those who are most at risk, those who are sick and those who treat them or do research.
Source: BFM TV
