First Monkeypox Case Suspected In Gujarat; Man With Similar Symptoms, No Travel History Admitted To Hospital

A 29-year-old man with monkeypox-like symptoms have been admitted to a hospital in Gujarat's Jamnagar.

Monkeypox in India: Gujarat became the latest state to report a suspected case of monkeypox after a 29-year-old man with similar symptoms was admitted to a hospital in Jamnagar. The patient, a resident of rural Jamnagar with no travel history, exhibited monkeypox symptoms such as high fever, rashes and others. The suspected monkeypox patient’s blood samples have been sent to the Ahmedabad B J Medical college laboratory for testing, said Manoj Aggarwal, Additional Chief Secretary in the health department. So far, India has confirmed nine monkeypox cases where one of the patient had died from the disease.

Suspected monkeypox case in Gujarat – Top developments

• The patient, a resident of Nava Nagna village in Jamnagar district, is currently admitted to a special ward created in the city-based GG Hospital, Dr Nandini Desai, dean of the MP Shah Government Medical College attached with the hospital told PTI.
• The man does not have any recent travel history. “Since he was exhibiting monkeypox symptoms, such as high fever, we have sent his samples for confirmation to a laboratory in Ahmedabad. The patient has been admitted to an isolation ward in the hospital,” Desai.
• The patient was admitted on Thursday afternoon with skin rashes, swollen lymph nodes on the body, Dr. Dipak Tiwari, Superintendent at the G G hospital was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
• As the case is from the rural area, the district health department will be carrying out tracing and tracking of the patient’s travel history and the people he came in contact with.

About monkeypox

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. It is usually a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting two to four weeks. The infection typically presents itself with fever, headache, rashes, sore throat, cough and swollen lymph nodes.