Written By: Satata Karmakar | Updated : August 8, 2022 10:01 AM IST
Monkeypox A.2 Strain Found In India: Two Patients Test Positive, Know Everything About The West African Clade
At a time when the world was slowly adjusting to living with COVID-19, the massive outbreak of the monkeypox virus left the experts worried. The monkeypox virus is a zoonosis viral infection which is caused by viruses that belong to the smallpox family. While, to date the virus was only found in isolated areas of South Africa, it has suddenly become a big threat for many across the globe. With a rapid transmission rate, the virus is now present in over 80 countries, forcing the World Health Organisation to declare it a 'health emergency' at global levels.
India now has reported nine Monkeypox cases and one death owing to the monkeypox virus infection. Out of which, four have been reported from the national capital and the rest five have been registered from Kerala. At this time, when the threat of another outbreak is so high, an analysis conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV) has revealed that the first two Monkeypox cases diagnosed in India which were a duo that had returned from the UAE- were infected with the virus strain A.2.
"The complete genome sequences obtained from skin lesions of cases 1 and 2 showed similarity of 99.91 and 99.96 per cent respectively with MPXV_USA_2022_FL001 West African clade. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the two cases were infected with monkeypox virus strain A.2 which belongs to the hMPXV-1A lineage of clade 3 (West African clade)," the study by the NIV under the ICMR found.
The recently detected Monkeypox A.2 strain in India is related to the lineage of hMPXV-1A clade 3. According to reports, the first two infected patients had returned from the UAE. Talking about the mode of transmission, the ICMR-NIV has also confirmed that the two patients who were found infected with the virus strain, had no traces of sexual contact.
Is this a new strain of the monkeypox virus? Yes, the experts have said that strain A.2, is different from the strain causing the worrying outbreak of Monkeypox cases in Europe.
What are the symptoms noticed in the patients? According to the reports, the two infected patients had a fever, myalgia, and vesicular lesions on the genital area with cervical lymphadenopathy.
There are two known clades of the monkeypox virus. The first one is West African and the second one is Central African (Congo Basin). Out of these two, the Congo basin strain is known for causing more severe illness, 11 per cent mortality and increased transmissibility. Talking about the symptoms associated with the strains, the experts said that the average incubation of 5-13 days with lymphadenopathy, myalgia, and headache, followed by deep-seated umbilicated vesicular/pustular rashes.
How do the symptoms progress? The symptoms of monkeypox follow a specific pattern, rash primarily starts from the face (oral), genital or perianal region and then distributed in a centrifugal manner to other parts of the body and progresses over time to scab.
