The Union Health Ministry on Saturday (August 17) said that there are no cases of Monkeypox in India currently, however, cautionary measures will be put in place to prevent and control the spread of the disease. At a review meeting held during the day, although the possibility of a few imported cases being detected in the coming weeks was not entirely ruled out, it was assessed that the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is low for India at present.
Since WHO first declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in 2022, a total of 30 cases were detected in India with the last case being reported this March, the health ministry said in a statement.
“There are no reported cases of Monkeypox in India as of now. The situation is being monitored closely by the ministry,” the statement said.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda took a review meeting with the senior officials of his ministry regarding the situation and preparedness. The World Health Organization (WHO) again declared Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern on August 14.
It was decided that as a matter of abundant caution, certain measures such as sensitising the health units at all airports, seaports and ground crossings; readying the testing laboratories (32); gearing up health facilities for detecting, isolating and managing any case are put in place.
At the meeting, it was noted that Monkeypox infections are usually self-limiting lasting between 2-4 weeks and patients generally recover with supportive management.
The transmission requires prolonged close contact with an infected case and is generally through the sexual route, direct contact with body/lesion fluid, or contaminated clothing/linen of an infected person, the statement said.
The WHO's declaration of 2022 was revoked in May 2023. Since 2022, WHO has globally reported 99,176 cases and 208 deaths due to Monkeypox from 116 countries.
A joint monitoring group meeting under the chairmanship of the Director General of Health Services consisting of experts from relevant fields was held on Friday to review the situation.
The meeting was attended by experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), WHO, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Centre for Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Directorate General of Health Services, central government hospitals, All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS and others.
(With PTI inputs)
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