Ethiopian national with suspected monkeypox admitted to Karnataka hospital: Report

The sample has been collected and transported to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute laboratory. The person has seven primary contacts and 11 secondary contacts till July 27 at 8 pm.

An Ethiopian national with symptoms of monkeypox has been quarantined at a private hospital here, the Karnataka health department said. His samples have been sent to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute laboratory for confirmation and reports are awaited.

A health worker walks inside an isolation ward built as a precautionary measure for the monkeypox patients. (AFP file)

Karnataka Health Commissioner D Randeep in a statement said, the Ethiopian national is a Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patient, who came to Bengaluru from Addis Ababa on July 4, 2022 for kidney transplantation, which was registered in the Aster CMI hospital.

“On July 25, he developed rash on left hand. He had itching too. On Tuesday it started spreading all over his body (vesicular rash) and while itching blood and fluid was coming as informed by his translator,” he said. Even though rashes were seen all over his body, it was more seen on the back. He came for dialysis today and the doctors noted these rashes and suspected it to be Monkey Pox. The other symptoms are nausea, headache and malaise.

Meanwhile, Health Minister K Sudhakar told reporters here that there was no need for people to panic as it is not a deadly disease. “There is no need to panic due to monkeypox. Of course, we need to take some precautionary measures. Even if it comes, there is treatment available for it. It does not lead to deaths. Death is highly unlikely,” Sudhakar, who himself is a medical professional, said. He said the disease belongs to the smallpox family. Those who have taken vaccines will not show major symptoms.