A man from Kerala who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was on Thursday confirmed as India’s first case of monkeypox, prompting the Union government to depute a high-level multi-disciplinary team to the southern state.
The Kerala government said it had intensified preventive measures in the state after the first monkeypox infection was confirmed in the country, state health minister Veena George had said.
The minister had said that the health department is observing those patients with chickenpox or similar symptoms to ensure that they don’t have monkeypox, PTI had reported.
“The surveillance at the airport will be intensified. As part of it, the Health Department will hold discussions with the airport authorities. If anyone is found with symptoms, steps will be taken to isolate them and ambulances have been arranged to shift them to hospitals,” Minister said in a release, adding that the training for monkeypox prevention is being held in a comprehensive manner. More than 1,200 health workers have been trained.
“The health condition of the patient confirmed with the infection is stable. No one else has been diagnosed with the disease yet. All his contacts are under observation. The Health Department is constantly in touch with his contacts and speaks to them twice a day over the phone to enquire about their mental and physical health,” she said.
