Kerala: A suspected case of monkeypox, the first in India, has been reported from Kerala, the state health minister said on Thursday.

As per reports the infected individual has returned from USA three days back and was hospitalized on presenting symptoms of Monkeypox.

Samples from the traveller have been sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, health minister Veena George said today adding that the case can be confirmed only after the results of the test are obtained.

The clinical presentation of monkeypox resembles that of smallpox, a related orthopoxvirus infection which was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. It typically presents clinically with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications.