The results of the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology revealed that the two patients who returned from the UAE were infected with the virus strain A.2 of monkeypox. An analysis of India’s first two monkeypox cases by the institute revealed that the viral strain in these differs from the one causing the outbreak in Europe. In India, nine cases of monkeypox and one death have been reported so far.

Dr. Pragya Yadav, a senior scientist at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) and the lead author of the study, stated that the current outbreak was driven by the B.1 strain of the monkeypox virus. The study published in Research Square showed that the two patients were infected with monkeypox virus strain A.2 that belonged to the hMPXV-1A lineage of clade 3 (West African clade). The West African and Central African (Congo Basin) are the two known clades of the monkeypox virus. The Congo basin strain causes a more severe illness and has increased transmissibility. Also, the Congo basin strain has a mortality rate ranging from 0% –11%. Dr. Yadav added that the West African clade is the viral strain causing the current outbreaks in non-endemic countries.

On July 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, considering the global outbreaks in all six regions in multiple countries. The 35-year-old man had developed low-grade fever and myalgia on July 5. Of the two foreign returnees, the first one developed multiple vesicular rashes in the oral cavity and lips, followed by a single lesion on the genital organ. He also developed a sore throat and worsening oral lesions, for which he visited a hospital in Kerala. The second patient, a 31-year-old man, had developed dysuria and genital swelling. The study found that the infection starts with a febrile illness with an average incubation of 5–13 days, with lymphadenopathy, myalgia, and headache, followed by deep-seated umbilicated vesicular or pustular rashes.

(Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/icmr-niv-analysis-finds-a-2-strain-of-monkeypox-virus-in-first-two-cases/2620929/ )