India's first monkeypox patient recovers: Minister

India's first monkeypox case detected more than two weeks ago has recovered and tested negative on Saturday, confirmed health minister of the southern state Kerala Veena George.

"All samples were negative twice. The patient is physically and mentally healthy. The skin bumps are completely cured. He will be discharged today," media reports quoted the minister as saying.

India has so far reported four monkeypox cases, with three of them in Kerala and the fourth infection in the national capital Delhi.

The first case, a 35-year-old resident of Kerala's Kollam district, had tested positive after arriving from the United Arab Emirates. He reached the state on July 12 and was hospitalized with monkeypox symptoms on July 14.

Meanwhile, the health condition of the two other monkeypox cases in Kerala state remains satisfactory, and are still under medical observation.

Similarly, the patient in Delhi is also recovering from the viral disease, said a local health department official.

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