The Indian authorities announced today the death of a man infected with monkeypox who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates, France Press reported, quoted by BTA.

This could be the first death from the disease in Asia.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the southern Indian state of Kerala said tests carried out on the 22-year-old man, who died on July 30, "showed the presence of monkeypox".

This death is the fourth linked to the disease outside of Africa.

The World Health Organization declared an "emergency of international concern" on July 24 in an effort to step up the fight against monkeypox, also called monkey orthopoxvirus.

The Indian patient was hospitalized a week before he died after returning from the United Arab Emirates.

It cannot yet be said definitively whether the cause of his death was monkeypox.

"The young man had no symptoms of monkeypox. He was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of encephalitis and fatigue," Kerala Health and Family Welfare Minister Veena George was quoted as saying yesterday by the Indian Express daily.

Twenty people have been identified as high-risk and are being monitored, George said.

Among them are the parents, friends and medical staff who were in contact with the deceased.

Sudan reports its first case of monkeypox infection

According to the WHO, more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide outside of Africa since the beginning of May, with the majority in Europe.

Last week, Spain reported two monkeypox-related deaths and Brazil one.

It has not yet been determined specifically whether smallpox was the cause of the three deaths.

Autopsies are still being carried out in Spain.

In Brazil, the authorities admit that the deceased also had another serious pathology. 

India has registered at least four cases of the disease, the first of which was on July 15, in another man who had returned to Kerala from the United Arab Emirates.

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