India, Oct. 26 -- In a breather for Maharashtra's health authorities, all contacts of the state's first confirmed monkeypox (Mpox) patient have tested negative for the infection, officials said on Sunday. The results were confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

The patient - a man, 48, from Hazar Kholi in Dhule district - was diagnosed with Mpox on October 7, marking the state's first such confirmed case. Officials said that the patient had developed Mpox symptoms on September 15 while in Saudi Arabia, where he received treatment for 15 days. After returning to India on October 2, he developed vesicular and pustular lesions and was admitted to Shri Bhausaheb Hire Government Medical College (SBHGMC), Dhule, on October...