A 35-year-old man of African origin with no recent history of foreign travel has tested positive for monkeypox in Delhi, news agency PTI reported citing official sources said on Tuesday. This is the 3rd monkeypox case in Delhi and the eighth in the country.
The man was admitted to the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital on Monday. According to news agency YEARS, the patient is a Nigerian national.
Earlier on Monday, a Nigerian national, living in Delhi and having no recent history of foreign travel, tested positive for monkeypox. He is admitted to Delhi’s LNJP Hospital, the nodal hospital for treatment of the infection.
Meanwhile, a task force on monkeypox has been constituted to closely monitor the emerging situation in the country and decide on response initiatives to tackle the spread of the disease.
Read More: Centre Forms Task Force to Closely Monitor Monkeypox Virus Situation in Country
The decision to constitute the task force was taken at a high-level meeting held on July 26 at the level of the principal secretary to the prime minister to review the ongoing public health preparedness in the country.
The task force will be headed by Dr V K Paul, NITI Aayog member (health). The National Aids Control Organisation and the Directorate General of Health Services in the Health Ministry have been asked to work on a targeted communication strategy to promote timely reporting, detection of cases and management of cases, an official source said.
According to the WHO, monkeypox is a viral zoonosis, a virus transmitted to humans from animals, with symptoms similar to smallpox although clinically less severe. Monkeypox typically manifests itself with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. It is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting for two to four weeks.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Madaviya said on Tuesday eight cases of monkeypox have been reported so far in India and a national task force has been set up to monitor the development of diagnostics and vaccines.
Replying to queries in Rajya Sabha during Question Hour, he informed the members about the various steps being taken to prevent the spread of the disease, and to develop testing kits and vaccines.
Till date eight cases of the disease have been detected in India, out of which five have foreign travel history, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare said.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has successfully isolated the monkeypox virus and an expression of interest has been floated for research institutions, vaccine and diagnostic kits manufacturers in India to take the virus strain for further research to develop a vaccine in the country, he added.
The minister was replying to a supplementary question. In a written reply to a question on measures and preventive action initiated by the government, the minister said, “A national task force on monkeypox disease has been constituted to monitor the development of diagnostics and vaccines for the management of monkeypox disease.”
The minister said the National Institute of Virology, Pune under ICMR has been designated as a referral laboratory for testing suspected cases. In addition, 15 other ICMR-VRDL (Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory) network laboratories have been optimised to undertake diagnostic testing for monkeypox disease.
He said central teams have been deployed, on the detection of confirmed cases, to the affected districts to assist in control and containment efforts by state authorities.
In response to another supplementary question, Mandaviya said the government has relied on the experience of tackling COVID-19, to be alert and prepared in advance to prevent the spread of any disease. He said when the disease was first reported globally in May, India had already started preparing to tackle it.
While the first case in India was reported from Kerala on July 14, the minister said much before that on May 1, 2022 the Centre had given guidelines to all states, and not just for international airports, on surveillance mechanism and contact tracing, how to collect samples from suspected cases and sending it to recognised laboratories for testing.
With the disease spreading only through close and deep contacts, he said no specific community is at risk and the government has taken up steps to create awareness about common symptoms, reporting of suspected cases and prevention from the disease.
Mandaviya said WHO has reported 18,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally from 78 countries and five deaths till July 27, 2022.
Centre’s ‘Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease’ state that human-to-human transmission occurs primarily through large respiratory droplets generally requiring prolonged close contact. The virus can also be transmitted through direct contact with body fluids or lesions, and indirect contact with lesion material such as through contaminated clothing or linen of an infected person. Animal-to-human transmission may occur by bite or scratch of infected animals or through bush meat preparation.
On July 23, the World Health Organisation (WHO) sounded its highest level of alert for monkeypox and declared the virus as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), after more than 16,000 cases and five deaths were reported from 75 countries. The global health body also called on nations to work closely with communities of men who have sex with men and adopt measures that protect the health, human rights, and dignity of affected communities.
(With PTI inputs)
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