Is there a threat of monkeypox in India? What happened in the Health Ministry meeting?

New Delhi. The Union Health Ministry on Saturday said that no case of monkeypox has been reported in India at present, although precautionary measures will be taken to prevent and control the spread of the disease. The review meeting did not completely rule out the possibility of some cases coming from outside in the coming weeks, but it was assessed that the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is currently low for India.

The ministry said in a statement that a total of 30 cases have been found in India since the World Health Organization (WHO) first declared a health emergency in 2022, the last of which came in March this year. The ministry said that at present no case of monkeypox has been reported in India. The statement said that the situation is being monitored by the ministry.

In view of the WHO declaring monkeypox as a Public Health Emergency of Concern (PHEIC) on August 14, Union Health Minister JP Nadda reviewed the status and preparedness of monkeypox in a detailed meeting with senior officials of the ministry here.

In the meeting, it was decided that for taking full precautionary measures, measures like alerting health units at all airports, ports and border entry points, preparing testing laboratories (total 32), preparing health facilities to detect, isolate and manage any case should be taken.

It was revealed in the meeting that monkeypox usually has an infectious period of 2-4 weeks and patients usually recover with supportive management. It is transmitted by prolonged close contact with an infected person and is usually through sexual contact, direct contact with body fluids, wound fluids or by using contaminated clothes or sheets of an infected person.

The meeting was attended by experts from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), WHO, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme Centre (NVBDCP), Directorate General of Health Services, Central Government Hospitals, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Tags: health ministry, Jp nadda