NEW DELHI: Soon after the reports of the monkeypox case surfaced in Delhi, the Union health ministry conducted a meeting which was held by Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan.
The ministry has asked the states and union territories to keep a close watch on foreign travellers and Indians who have come from abroad.
The ministry also advised the Delhi government for contact tracing and to submit a report soon. A 34-year-old man from Delhi with no history of foreign travel tested positive for monkeypox, taking India’s tally of cases to four and prompting the Centre to hold a high-level review meeting, the government said on Sunday.
Three cases of monkeypox was earlier reported from Kerala. The patient who is presently recovering at a designated isolation centre at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in Delhi had attended a stag party in Manali in Himachal Pradesh recently, official sources said.
According to official sources, so far nine contacts, including family members of the patients, have been quarantined and they are being followed up.
They are asymptomatic as of now. The west Delhi resident was isolated at LNJP hospital here three days ago after he showed symptoms of the disease. Union Health Ministry officials said his samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune on Saturday which came out positive.
“The person is recovering at the designated isolation centre at the LNJP hospital. The close contacts of the case have been identified and are under quarantine following the health ministry guidelines,” they said.
“Public health interventions like identification of the source of infection, enhanced contact tracing, testing, and sensitisation of private practitioners are being carried out.
A high-level review of the situation has been planned by the Directorate General of Health Sciences on Sunday at 3 pm,” the ministry said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday declared monkeypox a global public health emergency of international concern. Globally, over 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 75 countries and there have been five deaths so far.
In the WHO South-East Asia Region, besides India, one case has been detected in Thailand. According to sources, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Atul Goel on Sunday reviewed the monkeypox situation in the country and directed the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to carry out a detailed epidemiological investigation of the cases.
The DGHS also highlighted the need for a targeted approach towards men who have sex with men by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).
It was highlighted that health facilities should keep a lookout for people who complain of an unexplained rash and have travelled in the last 21 days to a country that has recently had confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox.
The Health Ministry had last week reviewed the screening procedure of international travellers arriving in India after cases of the virus were reported in the country.
Airport and Port Health Officers and directors of regional offices of the health and family welfare ministry were advised to ensure strict screening of all international travellers to minimise the risk of monkeypox cases in the country.
Menace in the making?
With India recording four cases of new infectious disease, alarm bells have begun to toll. Here is a look how is the disease and its outbreak so far
Transmission and Symptoms
Monkeypox virus is transmitted from infected animals to humans via indirect or direct contact.
Human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with infectious skin or lesions, including face-to-face, skin-to-skin, and respiratory droplets.
In the current outbreak countries and amongst the reported monkeypox cases, transmission appears to be occurring primarily through close physical contact, including sexual contact.
Transmission can also occur from contaminated materials such as linens, bedding, electronics, clothing, that have infectious skin particles.
Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over.
Cases in World
So far, more than 17,000 monkeypox cases have been reported from 75 countries across the world and around 72 deaths have been reported since mid-July.
Cases in Asia
As of 14 July 2022, a total of 116 cases were confirmed by eleven Asian countries like Russia, Israel and India.
Cases in India
Total four cases till Sunday. The first case was reported on July 6 and the fourth was found in Delhi on Sunday.
Combat preparation
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has trained 15 research and diagnostic laboratories across the country for early detection of the virus as the Centre released fresh strict guidelines to stop the virus.