India’s case tally goes up to 4; DGHS holds high-level meeting
A day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared monkeypox a global health emergency, the national Capital has reported the first case of the "monkeypox" virus after a 34-year-old-man without any history of foreign travel tested positive on Sunday.
This is India's fourth case, with the other three being in Kerala. This is second disease which the WHO has declared as a global emergency after Covid-19 since 2020.
A high-level meeting was chaired by the Directorate General of Health Sciences (DGHS), after the fourth case was detected, to review the situation. The meeting was attended by officials from the Health Ministry, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) among others.
"States/UTs have been advised to keep a close watch. The Delhi Government has been advised to do contact tracing of the monkeypox case. The Delhi Government has started contact tracing and a report in this regard is expected soon," sources said.
Sources said, the man has no travel history and he had attended a stag party recently in Manali in Himachal Pradesh. He was admitted two days back with fever and skin lesions. He is a resident of West Delhi.
"We kept him under observation in the designated isolation centre. His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune on Saturday which came out positive. He is being treated as per the standard operating procedure in the monkeypox cases," said Suresh Kumar, Director, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital (LNJP).
The officials from the Ministry of Health said that the patient is recovering at the designated isolation centre at the Lok Nayak Hospital. "Public health interventions like identification of the source of infection, enhanced contact tracing, testing sensitisation of private practitioners etc. are being carried out as per the Ministry of Health's guidelines," the Ministry said. Three cases of monkeypox had earlier been reported from Kerala.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said a separate isolation ward has been set up at the LNJP Hospital here for patients affected by monkeypox. Asking people not to panic, Kejriwal said the patient is stable and recovering. "The patient is stable and recovering. There is no need to panic. The situation is under control. We have made a separate isolation ward at LNJP. Our best team is on the case to prevent the spread and protect Delhiites," he tweeted.
Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region said that monkeypox has been spreading rapidly to many countries that have not seen it before.
“This is a matter of great concern. However, with cases concentrated among men who have sex with men, it is possible to curtail further spread of the disease with focused efforts among at-risk population.
"Though the risk of monkeypox globally and in the Region is moderate, the potential of its further international spread is real. Also, there are still many unknowns about the virus. We need to stay alert and prepared to roll out intense response to curtail further spread of monkeypox," Dr Khetrapal Singh said.
The Health Ministry had last week reviewed the screening procedure of international travellers arriving in India at airports and ports after cases of the virus were reported in the country. Airport and Port Health Officers (APHOs and PHOs) and regional directors from regional offices of health and family welfare were advised to ensure strict health screening of all arriving international travellers to minimise the risk of importation of monkeypox cases into the country, a ministry statement had said.
The WHO had on Saturday declared monkeypox as a global public health emergency of international concern. 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.
Globally, over 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 75 countries and there have been five deaths so far due to the outbreak. In the WHO South-East Asia Region, besides India, one case has been detected from Thailand