Monkeypox: Delhi reports 4th case as Nigerian woman tests positive, India tally at 9

Delhi reported its fourth case of monkeypox on Wednesday with a 31-year-old Nigerian woman testing positive for the disease, official sources said. With this case, India's tally of monkeypox infections has gone up to nine. She is the first woman in India to test positive for monkeypox. The woman has fever and skin lesions and is admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, sources said, adding her samples were sent for testing and the results came positive on Wednesday. "She was admitted at the LNJP Hospital on Tuesday. The woman is in a stable condition at present," a source close to the team monitoring the monkeypox situation told PTI.

There is no information about her travelling abroad recently, sources said. The first reported monkeypox patient in Delhi, a west Delhi man, was discharged from the LNJP Hospital Monday.

The third case of monkeypox in Delhi was a 35-year-old man of African origin with no recent history of foreign travel. He was admitted to the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital on Monday and tested positive for the disease the next day.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently declared monkeypox a global public health emergency of international concern.

According to the global health body, monkeypox is a viral zoonosis -- a virus transmitted to humans from animals -- with symptoms similar to smallpox although clinically less severe.

The disease typically manifests itself with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. It is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting for two to four weeks.

The 'Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease' issued by the Centre, stated that human-to-human transmission occurs primarily through large respiratory droplets generally requiring prolonged close contact.

It can also be transmitted through direct contact with body fluids or lesions, and indirect contact with lesion material such as through contaminated clothing or linen of an infected person. Animal-to-human transmission may occur by bite or scratch of infected animals or through bush meat preparation.

The incubation period is usually six to 13 days and the case fatality rate of monkeypox has historically ranged up to 11 per cent in the general population and higher among children. In recent times, the case fatality rate has been around three to six per cent.

The symptoms include lesions which usually begin within one to three days from the onset of fever, lasting for around two to four weeks and are often described as painful until the healing phase when they become itchy. A notable predilection for palm and soles is characteristic of monkeypox, the guidelines stated.