NEW DELHI: The national capital reported its first case of monkeypox virus on Sunday with the samples of a 34-year-old man from West Delhi testing positive for the disease.
This is the fourth case of the disease being reported in India.
According to officials, the infected person has no history of foreign travel.
The man had attended a stag party recently in Manali in Himachal Pradesh, official sources said.
He was admitted to the Maulana Azad Medical College Hospital in the city around three days ago after he showed symptoms of monkeypox.
His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune on Saturday, the sources added.
"Contact tracing process has been initiated," the sources further said.
Three cases of monkeypox had earlier been reported from Kerala.
The WHO had on Saturday declared monkeypox as a global public health emergency of international concern.
Monkeypox virus is transmitted from infected animals to humans via indirect or direct contact. Human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with infectious skin or lesions, including face-to-face, skin-to-skin, and respiratory droplets.
Globally, over 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 75 countries and there have been five deaths so far due to the outbreak.
In the WHO South-East Asia region, besides India, one case has been detected from Thailand.
(With inputs from PTI)
