Thiruvananthapuram, July 14 The National Institute of Virology, Pune, has confirmed the country’s first case of monkeypox after a sample taken from a traveller from the UAE arriving in Kerala tested positive on Thursday. The person had subjected himself to treatment and gone into isolation after a close contact in the UAE was confirmed to have contracted the virus, according to information from the State Health Department.

The person, identified as a male from Kollam district, had arrived home on July 12. He is learnt to have come into contact with at least 11 persons since, including his parents and cab/autorickshaw drivers. The patient had been referred from a private hospital in Kollam to the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, from where samples were extracted. Kerala Health Minister Veena George said there is no need to panic since treatment is symptomatic, and, unlike Covid-19, spreads only through close contact.

The Health Department had been on a general alert since the last week of May against monkeypox after it was reported to be spreading fast across Europe and the US through international travel. All districts in Kerala were directed to increase surveillance and remain alert. General symptoms include flu-like affliction, fever, and headache. What marks them out are lesions that appear on the face a few days after, which spreads to the body, especially the palms. The incubation, from the time of exposure to the virus to the manifestation of symptoms, ranges from five to 21 days.

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