NEW DELHI,AUG 18 : The Centre on Saturday reviewed the Mpox, formerly known as Monkeypox, situation and preparedness in the country after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who chaired the review meeting, said no cases of Mpox have been detected in India so far. \u201cThe government of India is taking proactive measures to prevent and control the potential spread of the disease,\u201d Nadda posted on X.
He said the Union Health Ministry is closely monitoring the situation and remains fully committed to safeguarding public health.
In the meeting, it was decided that as a matter of abundant caution, certain measures such as sensitising the health units at all the airports, seaports, and ground crossings; readying 32 testing laboratories; and gearing up health facilities for detecting, isolating and managing any case, etc, are put in place.
Although the possibility of a few imported cases being detected in the coming weeks is not entirely ruled out, it was assessed that the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is presently low for India, said a ministry statement.
On August 14, the WHO declared Mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years.
According to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, former president IMA, Cochin, the current outbreak of Mpox differs significantly from the 2022 situation. \u201cThe virus now belongs to a different clade, 1b, which only recently jumped from forest animals in Africa to humans in September 2023. Unlike the earlier clade 2b, which was milder and predominantly affected men who have sex with men, the current clade 1b has also infected women and children and has a higher mortality rate. The pattern of global spread is expected to differ as well,\u201d he said.
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