Potential Global Health Crisis After India Reports a New Monkeypox Case
A staff member in an isolation ward at a Pakistani hospital sets up a hospital ward after Pakistan’s Health Ministry confirms the country’s first case of Monkeypox in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
India has reported a new case of Monkeypox (Mpox) in Kerala's Malappuram district. According to CNN, this case is among the new variants of Monkeypox, called clade 1b, which causes more severe disease than the original clade 2b variant that was present in 2022.
According to the World Health Organization’s classification, Monkeypox is an infectious disease with symptoms presenting as rashes, inflamed lymph nodes, fevers, headaches, body pains, and lethargy. It spreads through close contact with an infected individual, which includes touching, sexual intercourse, or even breathing on or near someone. Contracting the disease from contaminated objects such as linens or needles is also possible.
This new variant of Monkeypox has been traced back to Africa, where it has been deemed a public health crisis by the World Health Organization. As of August 2024, the infectious disease has been detected in Sweden, Thailand, Pakistan, and the past week, India. The infected patient was said to have contracted the disease after a recent trip from Dubai, signifying a potential spread in the Middle East as well. He is being routinely tested every four days while in hospital isolation to prevent any further spread. Additionally, 29 friends and family and 37 flight passengers the patient came in contact with are being monitored as well.
The current strain is more severe compared to the previous 2022 outbreak of the clade 2b strain that is still spreading in Africa today. It is most notably found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a majority of the clade 1 variant in East Africa and clade 2 in West Africa. The spread of the new strain breeds concern as it has already been detected in three continents and therefore has the capability to catalyze a global health emergency similar to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Pictured are single-dose vials of Mpox vaccines from the 2022 outbreak. They have been taken out of a cooler at a vaccination site in Brooklyn, New York. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)
The effects of Covid-19 on foreign policy in particular are what draw concerns about Monkeypox’s global spread. According to ThinkGlobalHealth, many governments adopted authoritarian policies in response to divisive political discourse. India’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, on the contrary, exhibited dedication to world cooperation. Vijay Kumar Chattu, a researcher at the Center for Global Health Research, reported that India joined “regional and international conferences to coordinate efforts and share resources” with other countries in response to the global health crisis. Kumar also emphasized that India has “worked closely with the WHO and several other regional organizations,” and “helped over 100 needy countries by sending them medical supplies, equipment, and experts.”
Considering the past trend of authoritarian response in contrast with India’s commitment to unification during a global health crisis, the implications of a potential new epidemic call into question how countries would handle a new health crisis so closely after COVID-19, given the lack of resources in many developing countries. India has been proactive in the containment of Monkeypox, and maintaining good relations with other countries through meetings and providing aid. In light of this ongoing issue, it is unclear if India and other affected countries will continue to support one another in stopping this spread, or if they will retreat into isolated regimes as a way to prioritize their citizens first.