Delhi sees 8th monkeypox case as Nigerian woman tests positive, India count at 13

Delhi on Friday reported its eighth monkeypox case after a Nigerian woman tested positive for the viral infection. The patient is a 30-year-old woman. The total number of monkeypox infections in India now stands at 13.

According to a PTI report, the woman is undergoing treatment at Lok Nayak Hospital. Another person suspected of suffering from monkeypox has also been admitted to the Delhi government-run hospital.

“A total of eight cases of monkeypox have been reported in Delhi so far. The latest being a Nigerian woman, who is aged 30, and admitted at the LNJP Hospital. Her condition is being monitored,” an official was quoted as saying by the news agency.

The patient whose infection is yet to be confirmed is also a Nigerian woman. She was hospitalised on September 14, another official said, adding, the seventh and eighth confirmed cases and the suspected case are undergoing treatment. “All three patients are doing fine.”

The first case of monkeypox, a rare but potentially serious viral illness, was reported from Kerala’s Kollam district on July 14 and the patient was discharged from the hospital last week. All five monkeypox patients in Kerala had a travel history of the UAE

Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those in smallpox patients. The World Health Organisation declared it a public health emergency on July 23 and it is clinically less severe than smallpox.

The infection, unlike Covid-19, is not easily airborne and transmits through direct contact with bodily fluids or the lesions of the infected person. It can also be spread through indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated clothing or linen.