NEW DELHI: With India recording the eighth monkeypox case, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday told Parliament that the government was taking a step-by-step approach to tackle the disease and there was no need to panic.
“Monkeypox is not a new disease in India and the world. Since 1970, many cases have been reported from Africa. Before the first case in Kerala, we had issued guidelines to all states,” he said.
On Tuesday, two more monkeypox cases were reported – one each from Kerala and Delhi – taking the total number of cases to eight. Of the eight cases – five were from Kerala, all of whom had a history of travel from the UAE and three from Delhi with no travel history. India on Monday confirmed its first Monkeypox death, the first in Asia, of a 22-year-old man who had returned from the UAE.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s first case, a 34-year-old man, was discharged, while the third confirmed case was admitted to the Lok Nayak Hospital. The patient is an African national living in Delhi for several years and had no recent international travel history.
The patient was referred by a dispensary after showing symptoms, including swollen lymph nodes and rashes and fever, of the disease. “His condition is stable. We are keeping him under observation,” said a doctor in the dermatology department of the hospital.
One more suspected case was also admitted to the hospital. The woman, too, is of African origin. Her samples have been sent to NIV- Pune for tests, according to doctors.
India writes to WHO in UAE to check air passengers
India has written to the WHO representative in the UAE to ensure that air passengers showing symptoms of monkeypox are not allowed to board flights, to minimise the risk of disease transmission.
The Union Health Ministry referred to three cases, including that of a 22-year-old from Kerala who died of Monkeypox but was allowed to board a flight from UAE to India, despite testing positive for the viral disease.
“It is requested that exit screening of may be intensified to ensure that persons exhibiting symptoms suggestive of monkeypox are not allowed to board the flight to minimise the risk of disease transmission,” Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said in the letter to executive director and IHR Focal Point, UAE, Dr Hussain Abdul Rahman Ali Rand.