The Health Ministry has confirmed the presence of the Mpox virus, specifically the West African clade 2, in a recent patient. The case, verified on September 9, 2024, is travel-related and not part of the ongoing global public health emergency involving clade 1 of the virus. This case is an isolated incident, similar to the previous 30 cases reported in India since July 2022. The patient, a young male with recent travel history to a country experiencing Mpox transmission, is currently in isolation at a designated healthcare facility and remains stable.

Health Ministry Guidelines

Apurva Chandra, Health Secretary, stated that public health measures, including contact tracing and monitoring, are actively underway to contain the situation. The Ministry has written to all States and Union Territories, emphasising the need to train healthcare workers, particularly those in skin, STD, and NACO clinics, in identifying symptoms, following protocol for case management, and reporting cases promptly.

Transmission and Symptom Trends

According to the World Health Organisation, the primary mode of transmission for Mpox in the current outbreak is through sexual contact, followed by non-sexual person-to-person contact. Common symptoms include rashes and fever. The median age of affected individuals is 34, and over half of the cases involve individuals living with HIV.

Precautions and Public Awareness

Chandra has also highlighted the need for better community awareness and timely reporting of suspect cases, with State AIDS control societies being alerted. While the current outbreak is classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the risk of it spreading beyond Africa remains moderate. Health screening at airports and hospital-based surveillance have been ramped up to detect suspect cases.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has completed its Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission, landing safely at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on September 7, 2024. After more than three months in space, the uncrewed capsule returned with a successful parachute-assisted landing at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT). This marked the end of a mission initially planned for just ten days, but delays arose due to thruster issues experienced as the capsule neared the International Space Station (ISS). Although no astronauts were on board, NASA confirmed that they would have been unharmed if they had been.

Safe Landing Despite Challenges

NASA’s Steve Stich, manager of the Commercial Crew Program, explained during a press conference that Starliner’s descent followed the planned procedure. The spacecraft performed its deorbit burn, re-entry, and landing as designed. According to Stich, even with crew aboard, the landing would have been equally safe, despite the unexpected problems during the mission. Boeing and NASA have spent the past three months at White Sands performing tests to understand the thruster malfunction, which delayed Starliner’s return.

Astronaut Reassignment and Starliner’s Future

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, initially part of the mission, had to be reassigned. They were originally scheduled to return after ten days but will now stay on the ISS for ten months. Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in February 2025, after Crew-9’s rotation.

The future of Starliner’s operations remains uncertain, with plans for its crew transport missions to the ISS now delayed until at least August 2025. Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program vice president, Mark Nappi, confirmed that the data from this mission will be reviewed to decide the next steps for the spacecraft.