Server not receiving UDP messages from client (python to MATLAB)

I am trying to connect to a client computer in order to send integer values using UDP from my server computer. The problem arises (I believe) due to the server computer sending and listening to UDP communication in python, while the client receives and sends messages from a MATLAB script. Theoretically this arrangement should not matter since the UDP communication should not be affected by the coding language at all.

Server-side code (python):

import socket

commandVal = 0 #Message to be sent

sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM) 
sock.sendto(np.uint8(commandVal), (hostIP, portNum)) #hostIP and portNum are defined separately

sock.connect((hostIP, portNum))
while True:
    data, addr = sock.recvfrom(1024) 
    print("received message: %s" % data)

client-side code (MATLAB):

packetlength = 50
waitdur = 15000

mssgA = judp('receive',port,packetlength,waitdur);
if mssgA(1) == 0
   judp('send',port, host,int8('error'))
else
   judp('send',port, host,int8('success'))

I know the ports and IPs are defined correctly because I can send and receive messages if I use the MATLAB-based judp function to communicate from the server end. When the python code is used, the message is sent to the client, but no 'error' or 'success' message is received in return. What is the issue here?

I have tried changing firewall settings, and going through the documentation for both judp and socket. I haven't found a solution yet.

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