India announced on Monday that it had confirmed an 'isolated' case of mpox, but clarified that it was not the new strain of the virus currently causing a global health crisis. The resurgence of mpox, along with the discovery of a new strain, known as Clade 1b, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare its highest international alert level on August 14.
India's health ministry had initially reported a suspected case in an individual returning from abroad on Sunday and had placed them in isolation. However, the ministry stated on Monday that while the case was indeed mpox, it was the Clade 2 strain. 'Laboratory testing has confirmed the presence of the mpox virus of the West African Clade 2 in the patient,' the health ministry said in a statement.
'This case is an isolated one... and is not part of the current public health emergency (reported by WHO) which concerns Clade 1 of mpox,' the statement added. There have been no confirmed cases of mpox caused by the new strain in India, a nation with a population of 1.4 billion.
The individual, a young male who recently traveled from a country experiencing ongoing mpox transmission, is currently isolated at a designated tertiary care facility. Public health measures, including contact tracing and monitoring, are actively in place to ensure the situation is contained. 'There is no indication of any widespread risk to the public at this time,' the statement noted.
The new Clade 1b strain was first detected among sex workers in eastern DR Congo in September 2023. Clade 1b cases have been recorded in nearby Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda—none of which had previously detected mpox. The strain has also been detected in Asia and Europe.
