New crisis of monkeypox in the world, surveillance increased at borders and airports in the country

New Delhi: A new threat of monkeypox has started looming in some countries of the world. India is currently completely untouched by this new infectious disease, but vigilance is being increased in view of the patients being found in other countries. The Union Health Ministry has said that no case of monkeypox has been reported in India at present, although all necessary steps are being taken to prevent and control the spread of this disease. Union Health Secretary Apoorva Chandra said that the ministry has appointed nodal officers from testing facilities. It has also been asked to increase surveillance at the airport. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global public health emergency for the first time in 2022. Since then, till May last year, a total of 30 cases were found in India and one person died of this disease. However, there is a difference between the virus of 2022 and now. The Health Ministry has instructed all the states to increase surveillance, keep isolation centers ready, identify nodal hospitals so that if cases increase in India too, then all preparations are complete to deal with this disease.

Recently, Director General of Health Services Dr. Atul Goyal also held a meeting with all the states through video conferencing. Dr. Goyal says that at present the Clade-1 strain is spreading the fastest and has symptoms like chicken pox. Currently, more cases have been reported in the African country Congo. One case has been confirmed in Sweden, while cases have also been reported in Pakistan but it has not been confirmed from there. It is being told that in July 2022, there was a Clade-2 strain of monkeypox, in which the mortality rate was 0.1 percent and this time the mortality rate in Clade-1 is being estimated to be up to 3 percent.
The Ministry of Health is monitoring the situation. For utmost precaution, 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 cases should be taken. The disease is caused by prolonged close contact with an infected person and usually through sexual contact, direct contact with body fluids, wound fluids or using contaminated clothes or sheets of an infected person. Ampox is also a member of the chickenpox and smallpox family, which spreads from one person to another. However, it does not spread through the air like Covid.