With as many as two cases of Monkeypox being confirmed in India – both from Kerala – a senior scientist of the National Institute of Virology (NIV) said on Tuesday that people should not panic, adding that isolation wards have already been set up across the country to deal with cases of the viral disease.
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“It's a controlled situation with nothing to panic about. For now, we have only two cases. The government is alert, and is monitoring developments very closely,” said Dr Pragya Yadav of the Pune-based institute, speaking to news agency ANI.
Dr Yadav added that the system learned a lot from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as well. “People are well-trained, they know how to handle specimen and infected patients. Isolation wards are already present across the country. These were set up after a letter was issued by the Ministry of health, as soon as the first case was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO),” she explained.
{{/usCountry}}Dr Yadav added that the system learned a lot from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as well. “People are well-trained, they know how to handle specimen and infected patients. Isolation wards are already present across the country. These were set up after a letter was issued by the Ministry of health, as soon as the first case was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO),” she explained.
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | 2nd Monkeypox case in 5 days: Can India see an outbreak? Here's what experts say
On Monday, the Union health ministry, in a bid to minimise the risk of Monkeypox cases being ‘imported’ to India, asked all airports and ports to conduct strict screening of passengers arriving from foreign nations.
The directive came just hours after a man from Kerala, who returned to Kannur from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on July 14, tested positive for the infection. The first case was also from the southern state and also on July 14, as another UAE returnee, who travelled to Kollam, tested positive.
Also Read | Second Monkeypox case reported in India, Centre steps up vigil
Globally, the first Monkeypox case was detected in the UK on May 6 this year, and was traced to an individual with travel links to Nigeria. Thus far, there have been more than 13,000 cases of the infection across the world.