India's Health Ministry stated that it is fully prepared to handle "an isolated travel-related case" and has implemented robust measures to contain the situation.

India reported a "suspected mpox case" on Sunday and assured that it has "robust measures" in place to manage and contain the situation, according to a statement from the Health Ministry.

The Health Ministry identified a young male patient, who had recently traveled from a country currently experiencing mpox transmission, as a suspect case of mpox. This follows the detection of a new variant known as Clade 1b, which was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The World Health Organization (WHO) responded by declaring its highest international alert level on August 14.

The new variant has spread to Asia and Europe; however, there have been no confirmed cases in India up to this point. The patient in India has been isolated in a designated hospital and is reported to be stable. Samples from the patient are being tested to confirm the presence of mpox.

The Health Ministry did not specify the country from which the patient arrived. It stated that India is fully prepared to handle such isolated travel-related cases and has implemented comprehensive measures to manage and mitigate any potential risk.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported over 18,000 suspected cases of mpox so far, with children constituting about half of the reported cases, according to the United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF). There have been approximately 629 deaths, predominantly among children.

On Thursday, a cargo plane carrying vaccines arrived in Kinshasa, the capital of Congo. The country is set to receive a total of 200,000 doses this week, as reported by the Africa CDC. Authorities have announced that a vaccination campaign against mpox in Congo is scheduled to start on October 2, prioritizing the three most affected provinces first.