The new civil surgeon of Palamu Dr John F Kennedy said today that the 54 years old woman of Pathra village has tested negative for monkeypox virus, orthopox virus and varicella zooster virus. Kennedy sounded too happy about the test report which is all negative for this woman. The report is of the ICMR National Institute of Virology Pune.
Kennedy said 6 specimens of this woman were sent to the ICMR National Institute of Virology Pune which were of swabs of throat and nose, skin scrapping, EDTA blood, plain blood and urine.
Except for the urine which leaked, all five specimens of this woman have tested negative. The specimens were in a perfect cold chain Kennedy said.
It was received by the ICMR National Institute of Virology Pune on August 1 itself and the same day its test report declaring the woman all negative for monkeypox virus, orthopox virus and varicella zooster virus came to us, said Kennedy.
The CS asked people not to press any panic button in the event of any eruptions on the limbs etc. He suggested if there is any onset of eruptions the person concerned should immediately consult the doctor at the nearest community-based health centre or at the MMCH Daltonganj.
Kennedy advised people to report cases of fever with rashes and in no case to ignore it at all. He said there is every reason to be vigilant about it.
The new civil surgeon said it is a matter of relief that our country has fewer cases of monkeypox in comparison to other countries in the world nevertheless there is no room for complacency on health issues.
This woman was discovered with pustules on her just one hand and the then civil surgeon Palamu Dr Anil Kumar had opined that she is no case of even being categorised as any suspected case of monkeypox virus. Dr Anil Kumar had disproved the suspicions on grounds of the pustules being asymmetrical then and the woman having no persistent fever also.