An eight-year-old boy in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur was found with suspected symptoms of monkeypox.

Health officials said on Sunday that his samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

The boy has been admitted to the isolation ward at Government General Hospital (GGH), Guntur.

The boy, son of daily wage workers from Odisha, approached the hospital with fever and rashes. The doctors isolated him and collected his samples. The samples, including swab from throat, blood, urine, from lesions on skin, have been sent to Pune.

Officials said the reports are likely to be available on Monday.

The boy’s parents came to Yedlpapdu in Palnadu district in search of work 15 days ago. He developed fever and rashes a week ago and his parents initially thought it was nothing serious. As the boy’s condition didn’t get better even after a week, they rushed him to Guntur GGH on July 28.

The doctors examined the boy and noticed rashes and fever, both symptoms of Monkeypox and shifted him to an isolation ward.

According to doctors, his condition is stable. His parents have also been kept under observation as a precautionary measure.

This is the second suspected case of Monkeypox in Andhra Pradesh. The first suspected case was reported from Vijayawada on July 17.

A two-year-old child, who had gone to Dubai with family, was found with skin rashes on return. However, the samples sent to NIV, Pune tested negative for Monkeypox.

Last week, the first suspected case of Monkeypox in neighbouring Telangana had also tested positive.

The 40-year-old man had arrived in Kamareddy town from Kuwait on July 6. He had later developed fever and rashes on the body.

Suspecting it to be a case of Monkeypox, doctors had sent him to Hyderabad, where he was admitted in Fever Hospital. However, the samples tested negative for Monkeypox.

The first suspected monkeypox case in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada created a scare but the health authorities clarified on Sunday that the child has tested negative for the disease.

Andhra Pradesh’s Commissioner for Medical, Health and Family wWelfare J. Nivas said that the two-year-old girl has routine skin rashes. There is no need to panic, he said.

The child, who had gone to Dubai with her family, was found to have skin rashes on her return. The suspected case was referred to the Old Government General Hospital in Vijayawada. The samples were sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune but tested negative for monkeypox.

After the family returned to Vijayawada on July 11, she developed rashes. Her parents consulted a paediatrician, who referred the case to the government hospital on suspicion that these could be symptoms of monkeypox.

The girl, who had more rashes on face, was kept in isolation at Old GGH. Her family members and close contacts were in home isolation.

India reported its first case of monkeypox in Kerala on July 15. The infected person, who returned from abroad, was hospitalised and he tested positive.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.

The virus originates in wild animals and then spreads to people. There are two main variants – the Congo strain – up to 10 per cent mortality, and the West African strain – a 1 per cent fatality rate.

The person tests positive for the virus when they come into close physical contact with an infected animal, especially one that is sick or dead. This includes contact with meat or blood. The WHO said that in nations where the virus is endemic or circulating, all meat should be thoroughly cooked before eating.