Thiruvananthapuram: India’s second monkeypox case has been detected in Kerala’s Kannur, said state health department officials on Monday. This is the second case of monkeypox in the country, confirms the State Health Ministry.
According to state health minister Veena George, the patient who arrived in Kerala on July 13, is a resident of Kannur and is getting treatment at the Pariyaram Medical College. She added that his health is stable. The minister stated that everyone who has been in touch with the patient directly is being strictly monitored.
The first case of monkeypox was detected and announced in Kerala on July 14 after a 35-year-old man who returned from the UAE was found to have the infection.
A multidisciplinary team from the Center was dispatched to Kerala to work with local officials on executing public health initiatives. All 14 districts were on alert from the administration, and help centers have opened up in each of the four airports.
The Centre on Monday advised strict health screening of all international passengers on arrival in India at airports and ports, according to people familiar with the matter.
“states, airport and port health officers were advised to ensure strict health screening of all international travelers to minimize the risk of importation of monkeypox disease,” the Union ministry of health and family welfare said in a statement.
The meeting was attended by airport and port health officers and regional directors from regional offices of the Union health ministry.
“They were advised and re-oriented in clinical presentation of monkeypox disease as per MoHFW’s ‘Guidelines for Management of Monkeypox Disease’. They were also advised to coordinate with other stakeholder agencies like Immigration at international ports and airports to streamline health screening processes besides ensuring suitable linkages with hospital facilities earmarked to each port of entry for timely referral and isolation,” read the health ministry statement.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis, which means a virus transmitted to humans from animals, with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus.
It is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from two to four weeks, WHO said. Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials such as bedding.
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