BY TTT NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 18 JULY
The centre has advised strict screening on all international arrivals ( Points of Entry) after the second monkeypox case has been detected in India.
The previous advisory was on arrivals from African countries and samples of suspected passengers were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.
The union ministry of health and family welfare after reviewing the present situation has sent advisories to all ports and airports in the country to strictly screen all international arrivals.
A high level meeting was also held with the airport, ports and ministry officials in which all the stakeholders were present to discuss the situation.
The immigration department at ports and airports have been directed to streamline the health screening processes and keep in touch with the health department and hospitals.
MoHFW have issued guidelines for Management of Monkeypox disease.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis ( transmitted to humans from infected animals like rodents and primates) with similar symptoms to smallpox patients, though less severe clinically, experts said. Smallpox vaccines work to guard against monkeypox. Monkeypox spreads from person to person through close contact, according to WHO.
The first case was detected in Kollam district of Kerala on 14 July of a 35 year old man who came from UAE. The patient is admitted at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. The second case has been traced
at Kannur of Kerala today of a 31 year old man who has come from Dubai . The sample was sent to NIV Pune.
He has been admitted at Kannur Government Medical College and Hospital and his condition is stable.
A high level multi specialist team from the centre has rushed to Kerala to tackle the situation and assist the state health department.
An alert has been sounded in all 14 districts and help desks have been set up in all four airports in Kerala.
All contacts have been tracked and there is no major cause of concern at present as still the situation is under control, health department officials said.
The disease is endemic in central and West Africa. Since the month of May this year the Monkeypox disease is rapidly growing in the world.
According to WHO, out of 11,500 confirmed Monkeypox cases globally, Spain has recorded the highest with 2500 cases, the USA registered 1469 cases and the UK has registered 1856 cases.Already the World
Health Organisation has cautioned that a multi-country outbreak is underway of monkeypox disease.
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