India, Peru Confirm 1st Death from Monkeypox

India confirmed, on Monday, the first death from monkeypox in the southern state of Kerala, marking the fourth monkeypox death reported globally, outside of Africa.

A 22-year-old man, who had traveled to the state from the UAE, died on Saturday, Kerala Health Minister Veena George revealed, noting that the man had initially tested positive for the virus abroad.

The young man had developed a fever and swollen lymph nodes when he was admitted to a private hospital on 27 July, George told the news website The NewsMinute on Sunday. Nevertheless, he had no rashes on his body and the doctors saw no reason to suspect that he had monkeypox.

Twenty close contacts of the man have been categorized as "high risk" and isolated, the Indian minister told reporters. These include his friends, family, and nine people he recently played football with.

Peru also recorded the first monkeypox-related death of a man in his 45s with HIV and a severely weakened immune system, the director of a public hospital in Lima revealed on Monday.

The man had entered the Dos de Mayo Hospital last Wednesday “in septic shock” due to health complications because he had abandoned his treatment for HIV for months, according to Dr. Eduardo de Farfán.

“The patient arrived with a very advanced infection (…) he had abandoned treatment for the disease he was suffering from and that made him more vulnerable to contracting any infection,” he said.

“Monkeypox was another factor, but it had per se the problem of HIV that had not been controlled,” he added.

Last May, Nigeria recorded its first death from monkeypox in 2022. Reports indicated that the dead case was identified as a 40-year-old who had underlying morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications.