The Ministry of Health in the state of Kerala in southern India said tests on the 22-year-old victim who died on July 30 after testing positive "show the man had smallpox. monkey".
This death is the fourth linked to this disease outside of Africa.
On July 24, the WHO triggered the highest level of alert, the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (USPPI), to strengthen the fight against monkey pox, also called monkeypox.
The Indian victim died a week after being hospitalized on his return from the United Arab Emirates.
It was not yet clear whether the cause of death was monkeypox.
"The young man had no symptoms of monkeypox. He was admitted to hospital with symptoms of encephalitis and fatigue," Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Sunday as quoted by the Indian Express newspaper.
Twenty people identified as being at high risk were placed under observation, she said, including relatives, friends and medical personnel, likely to have been in contact with the victim.
According to the WHO, more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been detected worldwide outside Africa since early May, most of them in Europe.
Spain announced two monkeypox-related deaths last week and Brazil one.
However, it is unclear whether monkeypox was the cause of these three deaths.
Autopsies are still underway in Spain.
In Brazil, the authorities claim that the patient who died had other serious pathologies.
India has recorded at least four cases of the disease, the first of which was on July 15 in another man who returned to Kerala after a trip to the United Arab Emirates.
© 2022 AFP