Indian authorities announced on Monday the death of a man infected with monkeypox, who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates, in what could be the first fatal case of the disease in Asia.
First death for Asia. A 22-year-old Indian man infected with monkeypox died on July 30, a week after being hospitalized on his return from the United Arab Emirates. It was not yet clear whether the cause of death was monkeypox.
“The young man had no symptoms. He was admitted to hospital with encephalitis and fatigue,” Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Sunday, quoted by the Indian Express daily. Tests later showed “that the man had monkeypox. “.
Twenty people identified as being at high risk were placed under observation, she said, including relatives, friends and medical personnel, who may have been in contact with the victim.
the victim had recently returned from dubai
The first analyzes carried out on the man who died on Saturday in India showed that he was carrying the West African variant of the virus and further tests have yet to be carried out.
According to the Kerala Ministry of Health, the family did not notify doctors until July 30, the day of the death, of the results of the test carried out in Dubai on the 19th. 165 passengers had been on the same flight as him since the Emirates, but none of them had close contact with the patient, the ministry added.
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Since May, the first five monkeypox-related deaths worldwide have been reported in Africa, where the disease is endemic and was first detected in humans in 1970. Most infections are 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 predicts an increase in the number of deaths linked to monkeypox, even if it stresses that severe complications remain rare and very often the disease is cured by itself. even, without requiring treatment.
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