NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry identified an isolated category of the mpox virus in the country of India, said to be linked with international travel. This case has been confirmed to be out of danger and caused by a variant of the virus that is under active transmission in a foreign country.
The ministry said, "A case that was suspected to be Mpox, commonly known as monkeypox, is now confirmed to be a travel-related infection. The W. African clade 2 has been lab-confirmed sick in the patient. The patient has been isolated.
The Ministry further emphasized that this single isolated case illustrates the 30 mpox cases that India has reported since July 2022. These are also not included in the purview of WHO's recent public health emergency, which pertains to a different variant of the virus-clade 1.
The patient, who is being treated in a tertiary care isolation facility, is reportedly stable and has shown no signs of any systemic illness or comorbidities. "The individual is clinically stable, and there are no comorbidities," the ministry further added, attempting to soothe public apprehension.
Following this new case, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra has asked all states and UTs to be vigilant. He stated they should enhance screening, testing, and preparedness, more so because the risk of mpox transmission is higher in those with HIV. Meanwhile, all state AIDS control societies have been directed to conduct increased surveillance so that any possible infection may be picked up at the earliest.
Further, Chandra laid out four steps the states should follow: training of state and district surveillance teams on identification of suspected, probable, and confirmed mpox cases and instituting contact tracing; sensitization of healthcare workers in skin and sexually transmitted infection clinics and those engaged in the government's HIV control programs to have a high index of suspicion; sensitization of health workers and the community on ways of preventing mpox spread; and deploying additional government surveillance teams on the border of Uganda and Kenya.
Besides, states have been asked to declare isolation facilities for suspected or confirmed cases and ensure all isolation-related protocols are followed strictly.
Due to the timely response from the Union Health Ministry, efforts are made in a way that any outbreak must be contained without delay and public health safety net stays intact.
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