India Launches Investigation as Monkeypox-Like Symptoms Detected in Five-Year-Old Girl

India issued guidelines on 31 May on surveillance, detection, and treatment of monkeypox, even though the country hasn’t reported any cases so far.

In what could be the first suspected case of monkeypox in India, health officials in Ghaziabad have sent swabs and other samples from a five-year-old girl to the apex virology lab in Pune for testing. A doctor detected symptoms linked to the zoonotic disease in the minor girl.

The girl, from the eastern state of Bihar, had been receiving treatment for hearing issues in a private hospital located in the national capital region for months; however, the doctor noticed monkeypox-like lesions on her body on Friday.

“I saw lesions over her body and they seemed similar to monkeypox. We immediately informed the health department and isolated the girl. The family told us that several children in the family have developed a similar infection, and two of them have already recovered”, Dr B.P. Tyagi of Harsh Hospital said.

Most monkeypox patients experience fever, body aches, chills, and fatigue; however, the suspected case is not complaining of body ache or fever.

The family claimed there had been no foreign travel history of the minor, but her close relative had returned from Dubai recently. Over the past month, more than 800 monkeypox cases have been reported in 31 countries, including at least four patients in the United Arab of Emirates.