22-yr-old who died in Kerala succumbed to Monkeypox, confirms National Institute of Virology

The Kerala health department on Monday confirmed that the 22-year-old man who died in Thrissur on Saturday had succumbed to Monkeypox.

The National Institute of Virology in Pune, where his samples were sent for testing, made the confirmation. This is India’s first death due to Monkeypox and likely the fourth outside Africa.

On July 31, state Health Minister Veena George stated that the youth had tested positive for monkeypox in the UAE before returning to Kerala on July 22. The government had ordered a probe into the circumstances that led to the delay in reporting the test result to the health department.

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The family of the Gulf returnee reportedly only handed over the positive monkeypox test after the man's death.

The man, a native of Punniyoor in Thrissur, was admitted to a private hospital on July 27 after he developed fever and died on July 30.

India has so far confirmed four Monkeypox cases, three of them in Kerala. Spain on Saturday reported a second death from the infection.