Kerala: India’s first patient of Monkeypox was discharged on Saturday after he recuperated completely, Kerala health minister Veena George said interacting with the media. She added that all samples returned negative twice and that the skin bumps were also cured.

The minister also said the test results of his family members, who were in the primary contact list with him, are also negative.

The 35-year-old with a travel history from UAE hailed from Kollam and was being treated at the Government Medical College after he presented symptoms on July 14th. As it was the first case of Monkeypox in the country, tests were conducted twice at an interval of 72 hours as per the instructions of the National Institute of Virology (NIV).

According to sources, the health conditions of two other persons who had tested positive for the infection remain satisfactory, the Minister has stated further adding that the surveillance and prevention measures were being continued.

The WHO last week, sounded an alert flagging Monkeypox as a global emergency and calling all countries to step up measures at Int’l airports and screen all arrivals stringently.